1914] Melon Fly, Dacus cucurbitae. 203 
and the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata Wied.) in 
South Africa. 
Recently similar control measures have been used in the 
United States and Canada against the apple maggot (Rhago- 
letis. pomonella Walsh), the cherry fruit flies (Rhagoletis 
cingulata Loew. and Rhagoletis fausta O. S.) and the currant 
or gooseberry fruit fly (Epochra canadensis Loew.). We have 
tested the effectiveness of the poisoned bait spray to control 
the Mediterranean fruit fly under Hawaiian conditions. The 
method adopted was to wire ten kerosene traps in different 
parts of an orchard containing about four hundred fruit trees. 
The total number of fruit flies captured in five weeks was 10,239; 
of this number 10,203 were males and only 36 were females. 
During the following five weeks the poisoned bait spray was 
applied to the trees about once a week. The total number of 
fruit flies captured in the kerosene traps during these five weeks 
was 182, of which number 93 were caught during the first 
week. 
As already stated Dacus cucurbite requires at least two weeks 
under laboratory conditions before the egg-laying period com- 
mences. Under natural conditions, the flies seek food during 
this period and subsist on a variety of sweet substances already 
discussed under the feeding habits of the melon fly. In capti- 
vity, the adults show a fondness for diluted molasses and they 
fed on this liquid until their aodomens became greatly distended. 
One can readily understand that if this insect is attracted to 
diluted molasses under natural conditions, that the greediness 
of the fruit flies for this sweet when poisoned, would be the | 
weak point in the life history to attack the pest. If this poisoned 
bait is applied in the form of a spray to the food plant, when 
the trypetids issue from the puparia, no doubt large numbers 
would be killed before the egg-laying period begins. 
The poisoned bait was prepared according to the following 
formula: 
Brown sugar 21 |b. 
Arsenate of lead 5. oz. 
Water 4 gal. 
The solution was prepared by dissolving the brown sugar 
and lead arsenate through cheese cloth in cold water so as to 
strain out all foreign material including ants, which in the 
Hawaiian Islands frequently gnaw through the paper sacs 
