604 



Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Oct., 1916. 



INSECT PESTS OF THE FRUIT, FLOWER, AND 

 VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



AND HOW TO TREAT THEM. 



By G. Fre?ich, Jnr., Government Entomologist. 

 (Continued from page 498.) 



The Metallic Tomato Fly. 



This pest is a very handsome fly, belonging to the real " fruit flies." 

 It is of a metallic, bluish-green colour, and less than half the size of the 

 common house fly. The eyes 





are very large and pro- 

 minent, and the body some- 

 what short and plump for 

 the size of the insect. The 

 larvae are about the size and 

 shape of the common blow- 

 fly, and as many as eight 

 have been found in one 

 tomato. This insect, so far 

 as can be ascertained, is 

 an importation from New 

 South Wales, and has 

 spread to all parts of Aus- 

 tralia. It has been stated 

 that it will only attack 

 fruits, &c., when they are 

 either nearly ripe or have 

 been bruised in some way. 

 In Victoria, our experience 

 is that it will tackle fruit, 

 especially tomatoes, upon 

 which no bruises of any 

 kind can be detected, even 

 with the aid of a good mag- 

 nifying glass. It is giving 

 no end of trouble where 

 tomatoes are grown ex- 

 tensively, and many cases 

 which were thought to have 

 been attributable to the 

 fruit fly have been traced to 

 the depredations of this 

 tiny insect. Spraying with 



quassia chips and benzole emulsion as a preventive has given good 

 results. Smudge fires, as used against the Rutherglen bug, would, no 

 doubt, keep these flies from tomatoes that are ripening. When tomatoes, 



Fig. 



20. — Metallic Tomato Fly 

 ( Lonchcea splendida ) . 



