The objective of this work was to study the genetic divergence among lines of Pele de Sapo melon and among lines of Honey Dew melon. Ten lines of Pele de Sapo melon and ten lines of Honey Dew melon were evaluated, in separate experiments, both carried in a randomized block design with three replications. The divergence was estimated by the Mahalanobis distance. The methods of Tocher and UPGMA were used for the grouping of the lineages. For the lineages Pele de Sapo, genetic divergence was verified with the formation of four five groups according to the methods of grouping of Tocher and UPGMA, respectively. Must be made crosses among lines PS-01, PS-05 and PS-07 or between theses and other lines of group I. For the lineages of Honey Dew, the formation of the same three groups was verified in the methods of grouping of Tocher and UPGMA. The group II formed by lines OF-01 and OF-02; the group III by line OF-03 and first group by other lines. Considering Honey Dew lines, suggest crosses of lines OF-01 and OF-02 with other lines. The line OF-03 resembling to lines OF-01 and OF-02 must be crossed with the lines of group I.
Cucumis melo; Heterosis; Choice of parents; Mahalanobis distance
