PROCEEDING.-, 1915. 59 



summer, ovipositing in apples, so that this is doubtless a larval parasite, 

 which probably accounts for the high percentage of mortality in the lar- 

 val and pupal stages. Experimental work in this coming season of 1916 

 will give us some figures as to the extent of this parasitism. 



Adult. 



1. Description and General Behaviour. The adult is a little smaller 

 than the house-fly, the general color being a shiny black with a few white 

 markings. The head is of a brownish color, with the eyes colored in life a 

 bluish green sheen. The thorax is black with two fairly distinct white 

 longitudinal bands and a white spot at the rear end — the scutellum. The 

 wings are transparent with dark markings, as shown in the drawing of 

 the female. The abdomen is also black with cross-bands of white, the 

 number of these bands depending upon the sex, three in the male and 

 four in the female. 



Fig. 3. The Apple Maggot Fly (Female; (Rhagoletis pomonel'.a, Walsh) 



The flies are quite sluggish and usually can be quite easily caught 

 with a small bottle. Their favorite resting place is on the sunny side of 

 the tree, in the shade however, of a leaf. Frequently they are found sip- 

 ping at the surfaces of the leaves and fruit, preferably the latter, upon 

 which they obtain moisture, honey dew, or juices that have exuded from 

 wounds. 



Emergence. 



The flies begin emerging about the third week in July and continue 

 until almost the end of September, to judge from the emergence from our 

 rearing cages. The first fly observed in the orchards was on July 27th, 

 but for some reason flies did not appear in our rearing cages until August- 



