THE M"\T 1 1 1.\ BULLETIN. 



7:1 



There is ao1 one person in a thousand in Honolulu who knows thai 

 papayas ever become infested by the Mediterranean I'niii fly, although 

 the papaya is served upon practicallj every breakfasl table in the city. 

 This is because until the Eruil is very ripe it is protected by a sap thai 

 is distasteful to the fly. The moment the adult pierces the skin of the 

 papaya in order to laj eggSj a copious supply of this juice oozes ou1 

 and either drives ber away, or otherwise makes oviposition distasteful. 

 II has also been found thai unless the fruits are very ripe, or injured 

 by decay, the eggs and young larva' can not live in the pulp of the Eruit, 

 presumably because of the anion of the sap. The well ripened papaya, 

 however, may be badly infested. Between 100 and 200 flies have been 

 reared from single fruits. 



Bananas. 



With the establishment of the .Mediterranean fruit fly in Hawaii, it 

 became necessary to determine to what extent the small but growing 

 trade in export' bananas from Hawaii to California jeopardized the 



i ig t6 Inspecting bananas in Hawaii. Before bananas are inspected by the 

 i Horticultural Board each bunch Is suspended from a rafter of the packing 



■ a or pi; I in some other favorable position, ana then cleaned with the aid of a 



sh oi cloth attached to the end of a slender stick. During tins process all 



turelj ripe, cracked or decayed fruits are cut from the bunch. 



fruit interests of the mainland. Considerable misleading information 

 has been published in various literatures. During the past few years 

 the susceptibility of bananas to the attack of Ceratitis capitata in 

 Hawaii has been made the object of painstaking investigation, and the 



