Plant Protect. Sci., X:X | DOI: 10.17221/176/2024-PPS

Insights into the morphometric and molecular characterisation of ber fruit fly (Carpomyia vesuviana Costa) infesting jujube ber, Ziziphus mauritiana (Lamk.)Original Paper

Palanivelu Kavin ORCID...1, Balakrishnan Usharani ORCID...1, Pagadala Damodaram Kamala Jayanthi ORCID...2, Krishnasamy Suresh ORCID...3, Gandhi Gracy4, Sandeep Singh ORCID...5, Nanchil Richard Kennady ORCID...6, Madhavan Lysal Mini ORCID...1, Chelvi Ramessh7
1 Department of Agricultural Entomology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Division of Crop Protection, ICAR- Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, India
3 ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
4 Division of Insect Genomic Resources, ICAR- National Bureau of Agricultural Insects Resources, Bengaluru, India
5 Department of Fruit Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
6 Department of Horticulture, Horticultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Pechiparai, Tamil Nadu, India
7 ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Aruppukottai, Tamil Nadu, India


Carpomyia vesuviana Costa, a fruit fly species, is a major pest affecting the jujube (Ber). This monophagous insect pest causes significant economic losses in regions where the jujube is cultivated. Hence, the present study was conducted to provide a detailed morphometric and molecular analysis of C. vesuviana across various Indian regions, specifically Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Rajasthan. Morphometric measurements were conducted for various developmental stages, from the egg to adult. The overall mean length and width of the egg were 0.61 mm and 0.18 mm, respectively, and the fully grown maggot measured 6.19 mm (length) and 1.91 mm (width). The length and width of the prepupa and pupa were 7.67 mm and 1.64 mm, and 4.00 mm and 1.72 mm, respectively. The overall mean length of the female whole body and wing expanse measured 4.74 mm and 3.92 mm, respectively. The overall mean male whole body length and wing expanse were 4.19 mm and 3.56 mm, respectively. The results of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that the maggot's length at different stages, pupa length, and egg width were the main contributors to the variability, particularly in the samples from Rajasthan. Additionally, the adult female fly's morphometric traits, such as the wing and thorax measurements, showed regional variations, with the PCA highlighting Punjab's alignment with larger head and abdomen traits. The molecular analysis based on PCR and sequencing of the COXI–COXII region confirmed the species identity. The nucleotide sequence of C. vesuviana from Tamil Nadu and Punjab was deposited in GenBank as PQ198003.1 and PQ198005.1 which had nearly 99% genetic similarity with two sequences NC_071721.1 (Beijing, China) and MT121231.1 (Beijing, China) submitted in the NCBI database. A phylogenetic analysis further demonstrated that the Tamil Nadu and Punjab populations were closely related to an Iranian sample, while samples from other countries, such as the C. schineri of the USA and C. incompleta of Iraq, exhibited higher genetic divergence. The findings underline both morphological and genetic variations within C. vesuviana, reflecting the geographical influence on the species development and evolution. 

Keywords: ber; DNA barcoding; morphometrics; molecular and principal component analysis

Received: September 17, 2024; Revised: March 26, 2025; Accepted: April 2, 2025; Prepublished online: October 8, 2025 

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