{"product_id":"melon-fly-bactrocera-cucurbitae","title":"Melon Fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae)","description":"\u003cp\u003eSmall enough to overlook and patterned enough to admire, the Melon Fly (Zeugodacus cucurbitae) is a fruit fly native to South and Southeast Asia whose amber-tinted, dark-banded wings and bright yellow-and-black body give it a graphic quality that belies its tiny size.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Melon Fly is a significant agricultural pest across much of the tropical and subtropical world, having spread far beyond its native range to Africa, the Pacific Islands, and parts of the Americas. Females lay their eggs beneath the skin of cucurbits - melons, cucumbers, courgettes, and gourds - using a sharp ovipositor to pierce the fruit surface. The larvae feed and develop inside, causing the fruit to rot from within. This combination of wide host range and efficient reproduction has made it one of the most economically damaging fruit flies globally.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite its pest status, the Melon Fly is an elegant insect under magnification, with elaborately patterned wings that males display during courtship rituals. The species has become a model organism for studying invasive insect biology and the development of sterile insect techniques (SIT) - programmes that release sterilised males to suppress wild populations. It is a case where scientific understanding of a species' biology has been driven almost entirely by the need to control it, rather than simple curiosity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Axisophy","offers":[{"title":"Large (50 × 70 cm | 20 × 28 in)","offer_id":45864087322785,"sku":"APW-BUG-MEF-P-500x700-AM-COL","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"XLarge (70 × 100 cm | 28 × 40 in)","offer_id":45864087355553,"sku":"APW-BUG-MEF-P-700x1000-AM-COL","price":80.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0483\/1546\/5889\/files\/Axisophy-MelonFly-mockup-1.jpg?v=1770825598","url":"https:\/\/axisophy.com\/products\/melon-fly-bactrocera-cucurbitae","provider":"Axisophy","version":"1.0","type":"link"}