THE MEXICAN ORANGE MAGGOT 



{.-iiiastrcpha \'rry[>cta] liidciis Loew.) 

 By D. L. Crawford. 



For many years Mexico has harbored in certain parts of her land a 

 Iruit fly whose maggot year after year has attacked the orange, mango, and 

 gnava, which fruits in many localities grow together. The origin of the 

 pest is not yet known, but it is thought to have been imported from some 

 point further south. It has been known to exist in certain parts of the country, 

 chiefl\- the state of Morelos. for over si.xty years, Ijut very little attention 

 was given to it until an embargo was placed on Mexican oranges by the 

 California State Board of Horticulture shortly before the year 1900. It was 

 first described in the year 1873 by the Austrian entomologist, Loew, and 

 named by him I'rypcta Indens. The generic name has been subsequently 

 changed to Anastrcpha instead of Trypeta, according to a recent determination 

 by Mr. Coquillett of the Department of Agriculture in \\'ashington. After the 

 action had been taken by California prohibiting the importation of Mexican 

 oranges, the Mexican orange growers were soon aroused. They declared 

 repeatedly tliat this action on the part of our State had been taken in 

 tear of competition from the Mexican oranges, whereas the embargo was 

 solely for the protection of our own vast citrus industry from the introduc- 

 tion of the worm. 



After some time had elapsed in making these objections, attention began 

 to be directed to controlling or annihilating the pest. In 1900 Fernandez Leal, 

 then chief of the department of agriculture, and Prof. A. L. Herrera, then 

 h.ead of the department of parasitology, began the task of determining the 

 distribution of the pest, of warning the growers of the danger, and of 

 discovering means of eradicating the insect. Bulletins were from time t(j 

 time published and the farmers kept informed on the progress of these in- 

 vestigations. While these studies were in progress, attempts were constantly 

 made by the Departmento de Fomento in Mexico City to remove the embargo 

 of California and so regain the United States markets to the Mexican growers. 

 .\. request was finally made that California send down an expert to go over 

 the field with Prof. Herrera and report to our citrus growers the real condi- 

 tions in order that all fear should be removed of importing the pest into this 

 State. In accordance with this request, in 1905 the California Board of 

 Horticulture commissioned Mr. John Isaac to this task. Through data given 

 iiim by Prof. Herrera and by personal observation he was enabled to report 

 lull)' on the history, distribution, and natural enemies of the pest, and on means 

 then employed l^y the govennnent in combatting it. Mr. Isaac's report on 

 "The Trypeta ludens in Mexico," published in Sacramento in 1903. is. as 

 tar as I have been able to determine, the only account given to the public 

 of this dreaded worm in the last five years or more, with the excejjtion of 



