Citrullus lanatus
(watermelon)

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Identity

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Preferred Scientific Name

• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum & Nakai

Preferred Common Name

• watermelon

Other Scientific Names

• Citrullus citrullus (L.) Karst.
• Citrullus edulis Spach.
• Citrullus vulgaris
• Colocynthis citrullus (L.) O.Kuntze/Fritsch
• Cucubertia citrullus L.

International Common Names

• English: common watermelon; cultivated watermelon
• Spanish: melon de agua; patilla; sandia
• French: melon d'eau; pasteque; pastèque
• Russian: arbuz
• Arabic: battikh; betteakh
• Chinese: shi yong xi gua; xi gua
• Portuguese: melancia

Local Common Names

• Cyprus: karpouzia
• Denmark: vandmelon
• Finland: arpuusi; vesimeloni
• Germany: Wassemelone; Wassermelone
• Greece: karpusi
• Italy: anguria; cocomero; melone d'acqua
• Japan: suika
• Korea, Republic of: su bak
• Malaysia/Peninsular Malaysia: mendikai; tembikai
• Netherlands: vandmelon; watermeloen
• Poland: arbuz
• South Africa: waatlemoen
• Sweden: vattenmelon
• Thailand: matao; taeng chin; taeng moh
• Turkey: karpuz

EPPO code

• CITLA (Citrullus lanatus)

Taxonomic Tree

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• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Violales
•                         Family: Cucurbitaceae
•                             Genus: Citrullus
•                                 Species: Citrullus lanatus

List of Pests

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Major host of:

Acalymma vittatum (striped cucumber beetle); Acidovorax citrulli (fruit blotch); Acremonium cucurbitacearum (melon root rot); Agrotis ipsilon (black cutworm); Amsacta moorei (tiger moth); Aulacophora indica (cucurbit beetle); Bactrocera atrisetosa; Bactrocera dorsalis (Oriental fruit fly); Carpomya pardalina (Baluchistan melon fly); Chalara elegans (black root rot); Choanephora cucurbitarum (Choanephora fruit rot); Chrysodeixis eriosoma (green looper caterpillar); Colletotrichum orbiculare (anthracnose of cucurbits); Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus; Cucumber mosaic virus (cucumber mosaic); Cucumber vein yellowing virus (cucumber vein yellowing); Cucumber vein-clearing virus; Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus; Cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus; Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus; Dacus ciliatus (lesser pumpkin fly); Diabrotica undecimpunctata (spotted cucumber beetle); Diaphania indica (cucumber moth); Didymella bryoniae (gummy stem blight of cucurbits); Digitaria ciliaris (southern crabgrass); Epilachna indica; Erwinia tracheiphila (cucurbit bacterial wilt); Frankliniella fusca (tobacco thrips); Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. niveum (Fusarium wilt of watermelon); Golovinomyces cichoracearum (powdery mildew); Golovinomyces orontii (powdery mildew); Helicotylenchus dihystera (common spiral nematode); Henosepilachna elaterii (melon (ladybird) beetle); Lettuce infectious yellows virus (infectious yellows of lettuce); Liriomyza bryoniae (tomato leaf miner); Liriomyza sativae (vegetable leaf miner); Lolium temulentum (darnel); Loxostege sticticalis (beet webworm); Macrophomina phaseolina (charcoal rot of bean/tobacco); Meloidogyne arenaria (peanut root-knot nematode); Meloidogyne exigua (coffee root-knot nematode); Melon necrotic spot virus; Melon yellow spot virus; Myzus persicae (green peach aphid); Orobanche (broomrape); Orobanche aegyptiaca (Egyptian broomrape); Parthenium hysterophorus (parthenium weed); Phytophthora cactorum (apple collar rot); Phytophthora cryptogea (tomato foot rot); Podosphaera xanthii (powdery mildew of cucurbits); Pseudomonas syringae pv. lachrymans (cucurbit angular leaf spot); Pseudoperonospora cubensis (cucumber downy mildew); Pythium aphanidermatum (damping-off); Pythium vexans (damping off); Rhizobium radiobacter (crown gall); Rhizobium rhizogenes (gall); Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (cottony soft rot); Sonchus oleraceus (common sowthistle); Spodoptera littoralis (cotton leafworm); Spoladea recurvalis (Hawaiian beet webworm); Squash leaf curl virus (leaf curl of squash); Squash mosaic virus (squash mosaic); Tetranychus cinnabarinus (carmine spider mite); Thrips flavus (honeysuckle thrips); Thrips parvispinus (tobacco thrips); Tobacco ringspot virus; Tomato spotted wilt virus (tomato spotted wilt); Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus; Watermelon mosaic virus (watermelon mosaic); Watermelon mosaic virus 1 (WMV - strain 1); Watermelon silver mottle virus (watermelon silver mottle disease); Xanthomonas cucurbitae (bacterial: pumpkin spot); Xiphinema (dagger nematode); Zucchini yellow mosaic virus

Minor host of:

Achatina fulica (giant African land snail); Acidovorax valerianellae; Alternaria alternata (alternaria leaf spot); Alternaria cucumerina (cucumber blight); Anasa tristis (squash bug); Anastrepha grandis (South American cucurbit fruit fly); Aphis gossypii (cotton aphid); Athelia rolfsii (sclerotium rot); Aulacophora foveicollis (red pumpkin beetle); Bactrocera cucurbitae (melon fly); Bactrocera latifrons (Solanum fruit fly); Bactrocera tau; Belonolaimus longicaudatus (sting nematode); Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus; Chrysodeixis includens (soybean looper); Cirsium arvense (creeping thistle); Cladosporium cucumerinum (scab of cucurbits); Delia platura (bean seed fly); Diaphania nitidalis (cucumber worm); Dichroplus elongatus; Dociostaurus maroccanus (Moroccan locust); Epilachna pusillanima (potato epilachna); Frankliniella schultzei (cotton thrips); Fusarium brachygibbosum; Fusarium oxysporum (basal rot); Fusarium solani f.sp. cucurbitae (root rot: cucurbits); Globisporangium irregulare (dieback: carrot); Glomerella cingulata (anthracnose); Haematonectria haematococca (dry rot of potato); Haplothrips gowdeyi (gold-tipped tubular thrips); Helicotylenchus multicinctus (banana spiral nematode); Lepidiota stigma (sugarcane white grub); Limonius californicus (sugarbeet wireworm); Liriomyza trifolii (American serpentine leafminer); Megalurothrips usitatus (bean flower thrips); Melanitis leda ismene (rice butterfly); Meloidogyne enterolobii (Pacara earpod tree root-knot nematode); Meloidogyne ethiopica (Root-knot nematode); Meloidogyne javanica (sugarcane eelworm); Monosporascus cannonballus; Monosporascus eutypoides; Orobanche ramosa (branched broomrape); Pepo aphid-borne yellows virus; Peridroma saucia (pearly underwing moth); Phytophthora capsici (stem and fruit rot of Capsicum); Phytophthora citrophthora (brown rot of citrus fruit); Phytophthora drechsleri (watermelon fruit rot); Pratylenchus penetrans (nematode, northern root lesion); Pratylenchus thornei; Pseudomonas cichorii (bacterial blight of endive); Pseudomonas viridiflava (bacterial leaf blight of tomato (USA)); Pythium debaryanum (damping-off); Pythium myriotylum (brown rot of groundnut); Pythium spinosum (root rot: ornamentals); Pythium torulosum; Ralstonia solanacearum (bacterial wilt of potato); Richardia brasiliensis (white-eye (Australia)); Rotylenchulus reniformis (reniform nematode); Scirtothrips dorsalis (chilli thrips); Serratia marcescens; Solenopsis invicta (red imported fire ant); Spodoptera eridania (southern armyworm); Spodoptera exigua (beet armyworm); Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm); Tarbinskiellus portentosus (rice field cricket); Tarsonemus bilobatus; Tetranychus pacificus (Pacific spider mite); Tetranychus urticae (two-spotted spider mite); Thrips palmi (melon thrips); Thrips tabaci (onion thrips); Tobacco mosaic virus (tobacco mosaic); Tomato leaf curl Palampur virus; Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (leaf curl); Trialeurodes vaporariorum (whitefly, greenhouse); Trichoplusia ni (cabbage looper); Verticillium dahliae (verticillium wilt)

Wild host of:

Phenacoccus solenopsis (cotton mealybug)

Associated with (not a host):

Cladosporium tenuissimum; Olpidium brassicae (Olpidium seedling blight); Pratylenchus fallax (lesion nematode)

Uses List

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Human food and beverage

• Fruits

Medicinal, pharmaceutical

• Traditional/folklore