Main symptoms

C. cucurbitarum causes rots on the flowers (Figure 1) and subsequently on the fruits (Figure 2) of Cucurbitaceae. These are often moist and located at the end of the fruits. The affected tissues, moist and soft, take on a translucent appearance and a dark tint (Figures 3 and 4). The fruits can completely liquefy in a few days.

It should be noted that the affected organs are covered with a rather aerial blackish mold (figure 5). Fruiting bodies in the form of small pinheads gradually appear. First white, they turn brown and eventually reveal a purple-black color and a shiny appearance (Figures 6 and 7).

Care should be taken not to confuse this mold with that produced by a neighboring fungus, Rhizopus stolonifer , which causes quite similar symptoms on the fruits of Cucurbitaceae.