366 



Lands that it would be difificult to put to any other profitable pur- 

 pose may be utilized for the production of the sources of stock 

 feed mentioned by JNIr. Munro. Anything that will reduce the 

 fodder bill of Hawaii, besides increasing the land's capacity for 

 raising stock as ensilage of proved economy and nourishing prop- 

 erties is bound to do, will enhance the general prosperity of the 

 Islands. 



All of the divisions of the Board of Agriculture and Forestry 

 make highly interesting reports for November. They are w^orthy 

 of careful reading and study, and may be commended for such 

 attention to everybody who expects to have anything to do with 

 legislation for the future. There is probably no country, or politi- 

 cal subdivision, anywhere which has a more advanced and pro- 

 gressive agricultural and forestry service, in proportion to finan- 

 cial support received, than that of the Territory of Hawaii at 

 the present day. 



FRUIT FLIES OF FIJI. 



By J. F. Illingworth, Ph.D., 

 Professor of Entomology, College of Haicaii, Honolulu, T. H. 



The brief study that I was able to make of the fruit flies of 

 Fiji convinced me of the importance of our quarantine of all 

 vegetable matter, etc., from that region. Since the four species 

 that have been bred out from fruit of those islands all belong to 

 the genus Dacus, we can form some idea of their destructiveness. 

 This destructiveness is emphasized since the melon fly {Dacus 

 cucurbifae), which was discovered by Mr. Muir to be a native of 

 India, has proved itself such a serious pest here. 



The members of this genus all have the same habit of punctur- 

 ing and depositing their eggs beneath the skin of the fruit. In 

 fruits with a thick rind, like the shaddocks, granadillas, etc., the 

 young maggots are often found for some time in this outer spongy 

 layer; but they eventually work their way in, and destroy all 

 parts of the pulp. As is commonly observed with the melon fly, 

 the maggots have the springing habit, which enables them to 

 escape to some distance from the fruit, before entering the soil 

 to pupate. 



It is imj)()rtant lo note that, besides the various fruits similarly 

 infested here, the hijian species attack I)oth pineapples and ba- 

 nanas. If we were so unfortunate as to let these flies get into 

 the Hawaiian Islands, two of f)ur most ini])ortant crops would 

 receive a serious set-back. 



