8 May, 1907.] Fruit Flies. ^01 



FRUIT FLIES. 



C. French, F.L.S.; l-'.F.S., Govcruiticnt F)itoniologist . 



The Mediterranean Fruit Fly. 



Halterupliora capitata. Wicdmaim. [Diptcra.) 



This terrible scourge of the fruitgrower is l)ecoming but too familiar 

 in Victoria, the larvse having been found in peaches, pears, quinces, apri- 

 cots, plums, nectarines, guavas, oranges, lemions, apples, citrons, loquats, 

 mangoes, pumpkins, l;ananas, tomatoes, pineapples, and persimmons ; so 

 vhat it will easily be seen that hardly anv fruit can be .said tO' be exempt 

 from its attacks, and of all the fruitgrower's enemies the fruit-fly is un- 

 doubtedly the worst. 



As this article is written especially for the growers, technical terms 

 and descriptions art- avoided where at all possible, so that the coloured 

 plate drawn from nature will be the more easily understood. Unforcu- 

 nateK for Victoria, we are now ha\ing a very practical experience of this 

 pest. Numerous cases have occurred, so far most of them in private 

 gardens in the northern districts of our State. The danger ;has, we hope, 

 been grappled with, and the pest, at least partially, stamped out, by the 

 adoption of drastic measures. 



One great danger lies in the fact that man\- well-intentioned persons 

 suppose, or profess to suppose, that fruit-flies will neither live nor thrive 

 in Victoria. This is a mo.st mischievous, as well as a dangerous theory., 

 as the writer knows from actual experience that in Victoria the larvse and 

 also the flies will live for weeks exposed to the air by day and night, during 

 both summer and winter, and, as showing the vitality of the larvae, these 

 have l)eea kept by Mr. Fuller, Government Entomologist of Natal, for 

 over three weeks in a freezing chamber, and at the expiration of this time, 

 the perfect insects ha\-e been reared. It is toi be hoped that none but the 

 must careful will trv to rear these flies artificially, for should this pest 

 obtain a footing, which is extremely probable, the fruit-grower will have 

 to pack up and be oft, there being, at present, no known remedy. But 

 nature mav provide, in the shape of some parasite, a means by which the 

 fl\ nia\" be kept in check, if not stamped out altogether ! 



In writing of the above insect, Mr. Froggatt, Government Entomologist 

 of New South Wales, who, with Mr. Tryon, of Queensland, has had 

 constant opportunities of watching fruit flies in the orchards and elsewhere., 

 remarks that this fly is rjuite a modern importation, as it was not until 

 1897 that it was disco\-ered in orchards near Perth in Western Australia,, 

 and shortly after this, Mr. Froggatt found them flying about in the breed- 

 ing jars from peaches supposed to be infected with the Queensland Fruit 

 Fly {DacHs trvoni) which had been obtained at the Sydney Fruit Markets, 

 Mr. Froggatt further remarks in his valuable treatise Notes on Fruit Mag- 

 got Fly, ■' That though pre\iously unknown in the Colonies it had a wel'l 

 known record in Europe as far back as 1826, when it was described by 

 Wiedmann as an orange pest, under the name of Citriferda capitata; and 

 a few years after by Macleav, who published a large coloured plate of the 

 perfect insect. In this paper he, Mr. Macleay, stated that fully one-third 

 of the oranges shipped toi London from the Azores were rendered unfit 

 for use before reaching their destination through the presence of this 

 maggot when thev were oacked. 



