163 



1st June 1914, the author and two assistants collected in an hour 

 around electric lights 1,928 beetles, of which 1,424 were females, with 

 an average number of 52-7 with eggs which had not been laid. 



Two other insects which attracted considerable attention during the 

 summer of 1914 were the cabbage and onion maggots [Chortophila 

 brassicae and Hyletmjia antiqua]. 



Success in the control of the melon aphis depends upon immediate 

 treatment when the plants become infested. The plants should be 

 examined about the time they send out their runners and the Aphids 

 looked for on the under sides of the leaves. Their presence is also 

 sometimes plainly shown by the curling of the leaves. If only a few 

 plants are infested they should be destroyed ; otherwise carbon- 

 bisulphide or tobacco fumigation (preferably the latter) should be 

 undertaken. 



One teaspoonful of " Nicofume " or similar tobacco extract to each 

 U.S. (-83 Imp].) gallon of water makes a solution strong enough to 

 kill the larvae of the cucumber beetle [Diabrotica] on the underground 

 parts of the plant. A cupful of the mixture is applied to each plant, 

 the treatment costing about Is. 8c?. per 100 hills. 



Back (E. A.) & Pemberton (C. E.). Life-History of the Melon Fly.— 

 Jl. Agric. Research, Washmgton, D.C., iii, no, 3, December 

 1914, pp. 269-274, 5 tables. 

 The damage caused by Bactroeera cucurbitae, Coq., to fruit and 

 vegetables in the Hawaiian Islands, is nearly, if not quite, as serious 

 as that caused by Ceratitis cajpitata, Wied. ; less than 30 years ago 

 excellent cantaloups and water melons were grown in profusion, but 

 to-day B. cucurbitae is found on all the important Hawaiian islands 

 and these crops can only be grown on new land which is distant from 

 old gardens. More than 95 per cent, of the pumpkin crop is annually 

 ruined and much havoc caused among the more resistant cucumbers. 

 B. cucurbitae oviposits in set fruit, but more often, in the case of the 

 pumpkin and the squash, in the unopened male and female flowers, 

 in the stem of the vine and even in seedlings, especially in those of the 

 water melons and cantaloup. Whole fields of water melons have been 

 killed before the plants were 6 or 8 inches long by larvae boring into 

 the taproot, stem and leaf-stalks. Besides cucurbitaceous crops, 

 some leguminous ones, such as string beans and cow-peas often suffer 

 severely ; failing these, even peaches, papayas and similar fruits are 

 attacked to a limited extent. No satisfactory remedy is known to 

 prevent the infestation of fruit, though Chinese gardeners save a small 

 percentage of their crop by covering the young fruit with cloth or paper, 

 or, in the case of cucurbits, by burying them in the soil until they 

 become sufficiently large to withstand attack. The female deposits 

 her eggs in small batches, beneath the surface of the fruit, vegetable 

 or plant affected. The egg stage is short, varying from 26 to 54 hours. 

 The larva passes through 3 instars before pupation, the larval period 

 varying from 4 to 7 days ; those developing in pumpkins and other 

 thick-skinned fruits often remain in the fruit several days longer before 

 emerging. The pupal stage ranges from 1\ to 13 days. The adults 

 hve for from 6 to 12 months. Sexual activity begins only at sunset, 

 and the flies are rarely sexually mature until 25 days after emergence 

 from the pupa. 



