Sept., I9I4-] Severin-Severin : Mediterranean Fruit Fly. 241 



Gurney (1910, pp. 5-6) of New South Wales also experimented 

 with a number of oils to trap the Mediterranean fruit fly. He writes : 

 " The following oils, placed in saucers in the orchards, were tried as 

 traps for the adult flies : — Kerosene, citronella, linseed, salad, whale, 

 neatsfoot and fish. The non-success of any of these oils during these 

 seasons may have merely indicated the scarcity of the Mediterranean 

 fruit fly." 



In view of the absence of exact data concerning the relative at- 

 tractiveness of many of the vegetable, animal and petroleum oils for 

 the Mediterranean fruit fly, and since none of the entomologists men- 

 tioned gave any record as to whether or not a superabundance of 

 males were captured in the oils, it was decided to carry on a series of 

 tests along this line. In each of the following experiments, kerosene 

 (Star oil about 120° Be.) was used as a check. The number of fruit 

 flies captured in kerosene compared with the number caught in other 

 oils would give the relative attractiveness of the oils for the Medi- 

 terranean fruit fly. 



A elance at the following diagram will show the arrangement of 



the oil traps in the orchard. A circle represents a single fruit tree 

 and the letter within the circle designates the name of the oil in the 

 trap. In selecting the letters, the first letter of the name of the oil 

 was used, viz : — k = kerosene, c = citronella, w = whale and f = fish 

 oil. 



For a description and picture of the oil traps, such as were used 



