367 



■ FIJI FRUIT FLY. 



Dacus passiHoriac Froggatt. 

 (Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, 1911, vol. i^, p. 870.) 



This species is a very general feeder, and by far the most 

 abundant of those coming under my observation. I was able to 

 breed them in myriads from shaddocks, granadillas, and guavas. 

 Other citrus fruits — oranges, manderines, lemons, limes, etc. — ■ 

 were but slightly infested. 



Observations of particular interest were made upon the man- 

 ner in which the larvae avoid the attack of ants. These pre- 

 daceous insects congregated beneath and around each fallen 

 fruit, ready to pounce upon the maggots as they emerged. In 

 most cases the exit holes of the larvae were made on the upper 

 surface of the fruit, and by springing out a foot or more into 

 space, the maggots were able to get into the soil before the ants 

 reached them. Froggatt's original description follows : 



Length 9 mm. Head dull yellow; mouth-parts" and antennae 

 darker, terminal joint of latter large; arista long, slender; eyes 

 dark red ; a lunate dark blotch above the antennae ; front un- 

 spotted, dull brown ; ocelli enclosed in an angular black blotch. 

 Thorax black, no yellow on shoulders, the large angular nude 

 area on mesopleura not reaching the dorsal edge, yellow, scutel- 

 lum narrow convex, dull yellow ; double yellow spot forming a 

 blotch on hypopleura. Wings hyaline, nervures chocolate-brown. 

 Legs light yellow, sometimes clouded at apex of femora, tibia 

 and tarsi. Abdomen black, elongate, oval ; in the female the 

 basal segment is broadly rounded, with the anal segments and 

 ovipositor turned down right under the basal portion ; sheath of 

 ovipositor large, apex yellow\ 



Chaetotactic characters. — Head : three pairs of bristles on the 

 front, the first pair longest crossing each other at the tips ; the 

 third pair below the ocelli shorter ; apex with a pair of stout 

 bristles on either side. Thorax : bristles on front margin short, 

 four on either side, with a pair on the dorsal surface above the 

 scutellum, the latter furnished with a pair on the hind margin. 



Hah. — Fiji (W. W. Froggatt; bred from granadilla fruits); 

 (A. Koebele ; bred from mangoes); (T. Kirk, from fruit im- 

 ported into New Zealand). 



PINEAPPLE FRUIT FLV. 



Dacus (Tcphritis) xanfhrodes Broun. 

 (Trans. X. Zeal. Instit., 1904, vol. XXXVH, p. 327.) 



The maggots of this species are very similar in habit and ap- 

 pearance to those of the Fiji fruit fly. So much so that, where 

 the two species were found feeding together in shaddocks, I was 

 unable to distinguish between them. 



Capt. T. Broun, government entomologist at Auckland, states 



