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Worrying over the Bitter Gourds
While checking on the bitter gourds growing in the garden the other time; there were some strange insects swarming over one miserable gourd. That was when I learned about the cucurbit fruit fly, deemed the most destructive pest of bitter gourd. The fly is capable of puncturing the fruit tissues, I read; and lays eggs which hatch after about a week. The nymphs as well as the adults suck sap from the cells of the host plant. They inject toxic saliva which can cause the shoot to shrivel. When harvesting the bitter gourds, I wonder if they were contaminated with their saliva and if they cause us any adverse effects.
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