74 

 A NEW FRUIT FLY BULLETIN. 



"The Mediterranean Fruit Fly in Hawaii," by E. A.. Back and 

 C. E. Pemberton, Bulletin 536 of the U. S Department ^;f Agri- 

 culture, is a comprehensive account of the fly. based largely on 

 several years of investigation in Hawaii, in the interest of main- 

 land horticulture. Everyone interested in any way iji the fly 

 should have a copy of this bulletin as a work of refej-cnce. It 

 describes the fly, gives its origin and distribution, its mode of de- 

 velopment, habits, etc., tells how it was introduced into ]-fawaii 

 and how it spread, details its destructiveness to l^orti-. ulruial 

 products, and treats fully the different means of control. 



Interest is likely to be keen in regard to an insect of such j^reat 

 economic importance. The thoroughness of the inquiry is there- 

 fore most gratifying. Local readers will be particularly interested 

 in the long list of fruits affected. While most of the soft pulped 

 fruits are named, it is indicated that a preference is shown for 

 some while others are often nearly or entirely neglected. Some, 

 like the citrus fruits, show curious dift'erences in susceptibility to 

 infestation. These facts, while interesting in themselves, al :o 

 have a bearing on the question of the control of the fly by natural 

 enemies. This topic will probably have paramount interest to res- 

 idents of Hawaii, since considerable public money has been spent 

 in experimenting with natural enemie?, Avhich had to be sought 

 in far distant lands and brought hither over thousands of miles 

 of ocean. The question of the eff'ectiveness of these parasitic 

 insects as a check to the multiplication and destructiveness of the 

 fly is treated very fairly. While maintaining that the accom- 

 plishment in this important undertaking has fallen short of the 

 ideal, it is admitted that it has brought abcmt a vast improvement 

 in a situation which artificial methods coull not affect. — D. T. F. 



BEARS DAMAGE DOUGLAS FIR POLES. 



An unusual form of damage to young growth was noticed v\ 

 the upper Wind River Valley, in southern Washington, during 

 the summer of 1917. The bark was torn from the trunks of 

 saplings up to a height, in some cases, of twenty to twenty-five 

 feet. Saplings from four to eight inches d.b.h. were most gen- 

 erally attacked, usually on the uphill side, and about a square foot 

 or so of the bark torn into fragments. In some cases as many 

 as a third. to a, half of the poles on a ten-acre area showed either 

 old or fresh signs of this injury. The importance of the injury 

 seems to be greatest as a possible source of infection by fungi. 

 Douglas fir appeared to be the only species attacked. 



Claw and tooth marks left on the fresh wood surface, and claw 

 marks in the remaining bark, were the evidence that the work 

 was done by bears instead of porcupines, to which similar dam- 



