Teleonemia scrupulosa Stal. While biological control of lantana by most of the established insects appeared to have reached an equilibrium by 1969, the overall impact of the phytophage complex has been a steady and considerable reduction in abundance of the weed, particularly in drought-prone areas. Although lantana is considered generally to be under partial to substantial control in drier areas, it still remains a pest in some other environments, such as national parks. It also has been reported from southern China, Taiwan, Okinawa, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, North and East Africa, Guam, parts of Melanesia, Indonesia, and northern Australia. This pest has been recorded from more than 80 different host plants, including tomato, peppers, watermelons, cantaloupe, pumpkin, beans, eggplant, cucumber, squashes, and other cucurbits, and in Hawaii, in addition to these, passion fruit.
Damage is caused by the larvae feeding in fruits.
Adult females may also oviposit in stems of cucurbits of various ages. Seedlings may be killed in this way. Biological control explorations by the Hawaii Board of Agriculture and Forestry were undertaken during 1915-1916 in India, Sri Lanka, the Malayan peninsula, Java, and the Philippines. Studies have shown that P. fletcheri often destroys considerable numbers of melon fly larvae infesting wild host fruits. However, the parasitoid is less effective in attacking larvae in cultivated crops.