480 Mr. W. S. MacLeay on CeratUis Citriperda, 



which always exhibit the puncture, by which the fly inserted its destruc- 

 tive offspring. 



Whenever this puncture appears in an orange, we may be sure, I 

 repeat, that there is a worm concealed in the interior ; and a little at- 

 tention therefore to this circumstance on the part of the packers at St. 

 Michael's, might prevent so many unsound oranges being shipped. 

 The orange merchants, as I have before said, find that certain cargoes are 

 wholly infected with this insect, while others are almost untouched, that 

 one year the oranges are very subject to it, and another year scarcely at 

 all; the whole of which evidently corresponds with what every Entomo- 

 logist knows from experience to be probable, namely, that the perfect 

 insect or imago is particularly prevalent at particular times, in particular 

 districts. It is difficult, however, to say what the districts or seasons are 

 in which this fly is most prevalent at St. Michael's ; but as the continua- 

 tion of the evil evidently depends on the oranges consumed in the Island, 

 one can easily imagine that the havoc is not entirely without remedy. The 

 examination for two or three consecutive years of all the fruit as soon as 

 plucked, and the immediate destruction of all such as contained larvae, 

 would, if it did not entirely eradicate the species, at least diminish its 

 influence to an amount that would render it altogether inconsiderable. 

 When Horticulturists complain of the mischief done to their ripe fruit by 

 the larvae of insects, they have themselves in a great measure to blame, 

 since the facility of lessening the numbers of such species is great in- 

 deed when compared with that of protecting the tree itself, or even the 

 blossom, from the injury which other insects inflict. But if the fruit be 

 either left too long on the tree, or if when plucked it should be left un- 

 examined, so as to allow the perfect insect to emerge in safety, and pro- 

 pagate the evil, while the fruit itself is almost of no value, we must not 

 be surprized at the result. With respect to the St. Michael oranges, did 

 the loss fall on the proprietors of the orange-groves, or even on the ship- 

 pers, it would be their interest to pay some attention to an insect by which 

 the public at present suffer so much ; and strict attention on their part 

 during the spring of two or three consecutive years, to the appearance of 

 the ripe fruit consumed in the Azores, which, according to Dr. Webster, 

 amounts to about 40,000 chests, and the careful destruction in proper 



