June, '17] SEVERIN: MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT-FLY 319 



decayed at the flower scar and had a bruise extending through the 

 peel. This banana when removed from the bunch was yellow in color 

 beneath the decayed area and gradually shaded over to green towards 

 the other end." It was this banana which I referred to as a half- 

 ripe banana in the previous quoted paragraph. It is evident that 

 the Mediterranean fruit-fly was not bred from bananas growing under 

 natural conditions, due to the fact that the fruit was removed from 

 bunches on trees that had been cut down. 



Back and Pemberton (1, p. 802) also write, "The fact that Severin 

 reared numerous specimens of the decay flies, Acritochata pulvinata, 

 Euxesta annonoc Fab., and Notogramma stigma Fab., besides a number 

 of species of Drosophilidse, is ample evidence that the trees from which 

 the two fruits were taken had been cut sufficiently long for decay to 

 have started in many fruits, had he not stated that one of the two 

 fruits from which he reared adult flies was in a bruised and decaying 

 condition and that its pulp had already turned yellow beneath the 

 decayed area." In their evidence submitted, however, the authors 

 fail to take into consideration that we (5, p. 448) have published the 

 fact that "the Anthomyid and two species of Ortalids mentioned 

 above were also bred frequently from green Chinese bananas removed 

 from bunches on growing trees in banana plantations. These bananas 

 were decayed around the flower scar. ..." 



Kirk (3, p. 9), of New Zealand, was forced to burn consignments 

 of fruits, including the banana, because they were infested with the 

 maggot of the Mediterranean fruit-fly. Back and Pemberton (1, pp. 

 801-2) state that ^'from the arrangement of the text of Kirk's bulle- 

 tin, the Mediterranean fruit-fly {Ceratitis capitata) is definitely listed 

 as a banana pest. The bulletin is, however, a compilation taken for 

 the most part verbatim from various articles on fruit-flies appearing 

 in the Reports of the Agricultural Department of New Zealand, or 

 from circulars issued by the department. A person unfamiliar -with. 

 the Australian situation is at a loss to know to which of several fruit- 

 fly pests reference is made in the reports of fruits found infested by 

 maggots at the ports of entry. Thus, in the Thirteenth Volume of 

 the Agricultural Reports, 1905, where the list including the banana 

 among those fruits found infested was originally published, no refer- 

 ence is made to either the Queensland or the Mediterranean fruit-fly; 

 it is merely stated that the fruits listed were burned because found 

 infested with the ' dread maggot.' In the report for 1906 it is definitely 

 stated that only the Queensland fruit-fly (Dacus tryoni) was reared 

 that year from a list of fruits including the banana. The biologist of 

 Western Australia in his report for the year 1898 stated that the 

 Queensland fruit-fly had been brought to Western Australia in 

 bananas." 



