INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS OF CALIFORNIA. 



367 



ful jaws they gnaw holes in those containing the females, through 

 which the abdominal projection is inserted and mating accomplished. 

 Next day the mature and fertilized females enlarge the openings and 

 crawl out. Leaving the fig, by the eye, they enter the next crop of figs 

 on the same capri tree, which is in a more receptive condition, unless 

 the eaprifigs containing the mature insects are hung in the Smyrna 

 trees. In the latter case they enter the Smyrna figs. They wander 

 about in a vain effort to get rid of their eggs, and in doing so distribute 

 the pollen adhering to their 

 bodies to the female flowers and 

 then crawl out of the fig. 



The capri tree, the crop of 

 which is the only one in which the 

 insect can lay its eggs, on account 

 of the shape of the flowers, pro- 

 duces three distinct crops, called, 

 respectively, mararae, profichi and 

 mammoni. The first, the over- 

 wintering crop, contains no pollen 

 and can not, therefore, be used to 

 fertilize the Smyrna figs. The 

 profichi contain an abundance of 

 pollen, which is available at the 

 time the insect reaches maturity, 

 and as at this time (June) the 

 young Smyrna figs are in a recep- 

 tive condition, it is the one used 

 to pollinate the Smyrna crop. As 

 the Smyrna fig will not develop to 

 maturity without pollen and as 

 the flowers are inside the fig, some 

 method must be used to carry the 

 pollen to them. For this purpose the Blastophaga is utilized, and the 

 act of placing the eaprifigs on the female trees is called caprification. 

 The whole Smyrna fig industry is absolutely dependent upon this 

 process. In order to provide a supply of the Blastophaga, eaprifigs 

 are planted convenient to the commercial fig orchards. These caprifig 

 trees usually hold their fruit during the winter. Occasionally, how- 

 ever, severe frosts destroy the over-wintering eaprifigs and the Blasto- 

 phaga perishes with them. To avoid such losses, the mamme crop of 

 eaprifigs, in which the Blastophaga hibernates in the larval stage, may 

 be picked in December and packed in layers in boxes of clean, damp 

 sand and kept in a place where the temperature is about 55 or 60 

 degrees Fahr. In the spring these figs are taken to the eaprifigs and 

 the Blastophaga allowed to issue when the young eaprifigs are ready 

 for fertilization, which is about April. At this time the profichi crop 

 is receptive. This crop is exceedingly rich in pollen, which sticks to 

 the bodies of the females and is carried thus into the Smyrna figs. 



Distribution. — This insect is now distributed throughout the com- 

 mercial fig-growing sections of the State, which are practically confined 

 to the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. 



Fig. 364. — The Blastophaga, Blastophaga 

 psenes (Linn.). Winged females, apterous 

 males and the ovaries or galls inhabited 

 by the larvae. Enlarged four times. (Orig- 

 inal ) 



