448 



JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



[Vol.5 



bananas under artificial conditions would not prove that they will breed 

 in bajianas under field conditions. 



During the mosquito campaign, when the banana trees were cut 

 down in Honolulu, hundreds of bunches of bananas were examined to 

 see if there was any evidence that that pest was breeding in bananas 

 under field conditions. Hundreds of bananas containing maggots 

 were removed from these bunches and placed in jars containing stere- 

 lized sand. From these bananas a small number of Mediterranean 

 fruit flies, numerous specimens of an Anthomyid, Acritochoeta pul- 

 vinata Grims. ; 2 species of Ortalidse, Euxesta annona: Fabr. and Noto- 

 gramma stigma Fabr. and a number of species of Drosophilidae were 

 bred. The fruit flies were bred from but 2 bananas, one of which when 

 taken from the bunch was 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. 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 as shown in the following photograph: 



Fig. 10. Chinese banana with decayed area around the flower sear. From such 

 green bananas the Anthomyid, Acritochoeta pulvinata Grims. and the OrtaUds, 

 Euxesta annonoe Fabr. and Notogramma stigma Fabr. were bred and from a similar 

 banana but riper, the Trypetid, Ceratitis capitata Wied. was reared. 



The following experiment shows that the Mediterranean fruit fly 

 may possibly attack bananas in the field when not enough of their 

 preferred fruits are available. During the latter part of April it was 

 observed in an orchard that green and ripe lemons were covered with 

 a resinous material which had oozed from wounds produced by the 

 ovipositor of female flies. In this orchard there was little or no other 



