852 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



blueberry barrens of Washington County, comprising some 250,000 acres. It is 

 stated that in 1912 90,000 bu. of blueberries were canned and the industry 

 valued at $2,000,000. Three species of blueberries occur on the barrens, 

 namely, Vaccinium pennsylvanicum, V. carwdense, and V. vaciUans, but the 

 first two of these predominate decidedly. Since T. canadense ripens about 10 

 days later than V. pennsylvanicum the berry season is fairly long. 



Accounts are given of eight insects of economic importance, all but one of 

 which attack the fruit. The present account of the apple maggot is more at 

 length than that previously noted (E. S. R., 32. p. 350). The maggot is the 

 most important enemy of the blueberry in Washington County, to which locality 

 the pest is largely restricted so far as this crop is concerned. A hymenopterous 

 parasite, Biosteres rhagoletis, previously noted (E. S. R., 34, p. 456), was 

 reared in considerable numbers from puparia obtained from blueberries in 

 1913, which apparently reduced the number of maggots considerably during 

 the summer of 1914. With the large crop in 1913 only from 1 to 2 per cent 

 was attacked, but the yield in 1914 was so small that from 8 to 10 per cent 

 of the fruit was maggoty and conditions were much the same in 1915. It is 

 stated that no measures aimwl at complete control of the pest have proved 

 really practical but that with an ordinary yield no elaborate system of control 

 is needed. Burning the plains, as is commonly done, is a practice to be highly 

 recommended since it not only restores the fertility of the land but destroys 

 the puparia which lie near the surface of the soil. 



A new cecldomyiid, i. e., itonidid, though found in the fruit in considerable 

 number.s, Is not of economic importance since it infests only decaying or decayed 

 berries. Descriptions of this species and its several stages under the name 

 Lnsioptera fruciuaria by E. P. Felt are incorporated in the account. 



The pomace fly is said to have been reared in great numbers from blue- 

 berries placed in cages in the insectary as soon as the fruit had become a trifle 

 old and had lost its firmness. It is pointed out that unless stored berries are 

 packed securely and guarded against the attack of this fly, it may prove to be 

 a very serious pest. 



The currant fruit weevil (Pscudanthonomus ralidus) is quite widely dis- 

 tributed in Maine as a blueberry pest, occurring at both Orono and Cherry- 

 field, the only places at which extensive collections of berries have been made 

 for the study of their insect enemies. So far as known it is confined to the low 

 blueberries {V. pennsylvanicum and V. catiadctisc). Hibernation takes place 

 in the adult stage. Oviposition commences about the middle of June while the 

 berries are still small and green, the egg usually being placed in one of the 

 calyx lobes. On hatching out, the larva tunnels to the center of the berry, 

 leaving behind it a hardened reddish trail, which is very conspicuous in the 

 green pulp. A single berry is said to furnish sufTicient nourishment for one 

 weevil, all parts of the fruit being oaten except the outer coat of the seeds, and 

 the berry is left just a shell around a mass of fine brown frass. There is but 

 one generation a year in Maine. A description of its several stages by W. D. 

 Pierce is included. 



A fruit caterpillar, thought to be Epinotia fasciolatw, is, next to the maggot, 

 the insect most commonly found in the fruit. This pest, while very abundant 

 in 1913, was so extensively parasitized that it was quite rare the following 

 year and had not appreciably reestablished itself in 1915. It appears to be 

 generally distributed throughout the State. The eggs are deposited singly on 

 the outside of the berry while it is still green, usually somewhere around the 

 calyx lobe. Upon hatching out in most cases the larva enters the berry 

 near the calyx end. usually on the outside of the berry at the base of one of 

 *^e sepals, but some enter by the calyx cup and a few near the stem end. If 



