303 



propagation and distribution. In the next report the details of 

 this work can be given and very likely some definite word as to 

 the establishment of the parasite. 



Very truly yours, 



David T. Fullaway, 



Entomologist. 



REPORT OF D. T. FULLAWAY : SEARCH FOR MELON 

 FLY PARASITES. 



Honolulu, Hawaii, J^ine 20, 1916. 



Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry, 

 Honolulu. 



Gentlemen : — Permit me to report my return, on May 10, with 

 a small lot of Opius fletcheri, a parasitic wasp living at the ex- 

 pense of the melon fly and behaving in much the same way as 

 the braconid fruit fly parasites obtained in Africa and Australia. 

 An effort was made immediately to multiply the parasites in order 

 to secure their establishment in the Islands, and it is gratifying 

 to be able to state that in all probability w^e will be successful 

 in this endeavor, as the parasites in the first generation multi- 

 plied sixfold, and the succeeding generation now coming on 

 should provide material for liberation. At the end of fifteen days' 

 rearing, to safeguard the introduction, the four remaining females 

 of the original lot were taken to Kona and liberated in a particu- 

 larly favorable spot among wild Chinese cucumbers. 



Before going on to the detailed account of the expedition, it 

 should be stated that when the search for melon fly parasites was 

 begun last July, our knowledge of the fly outside of Hawaii was 

 very limited, consisting almost wholly of the probable distribution 

 of the fly gained from the meager records of Compere and Muir 

 and the publications of the Imperial Entomologist of India. 

 Nothing positive was known of parasites, although Muir's ac- 

 counts of the relative scarcity of the fly in certain localities gave a 

 measure of confidence to the assumption that parasites existed. 



In regard of the facilities offered by the government labora- 

 tories in India, it was considered that it would be the country to 

 work first, and on July 23 I set out with the intention of going 

 directly to Pusa in India. When I reached Manila, however, I 

 went up to Los Bafios to have a conference with Muir, and it 

 was larg-ely on his recommendation that I decided to work first 

 around Singapore. 



While at Hongkong, August 17-20, on ni}^ way to Singapore, I 

 made a short trip up the river to Macao, where Muir and Ker- 



