[ DISEASES OF THE FIG TREE 



early and as a rule fail to mature the fruits, which even 

 if they ripen will be worthless either for the table or for 

 drying. A good remedy is to prune heavily early in 

 winter, and then to whitewash thoroughly the tree, 

 trunk, branches and twigs, with lime, repeating the 

 operation after about one month's interval. This scale 

 has many enemies among the ladybirds, and is also 

 decimated by the scale- moth Thalpochares grossi and 

 Dacruma coccidivora, but it is advisable not to rely solely 

 on these natural means to combat the evil 



Considerable damage is caused to the ripe fruit by 

 the omnivorous and ubiquitous fruit-fly Ceratitis capitata 

 or Halterophora capilata. This fly lays its eggs in the 

 orifice of the fig, but often also makes use of its 

 ovipositor to puncture the side of the fruit. The maggots 

 which develop soon make the fruit useless before it is 

 picked for use. The same fly attacks also the early or 

 St. John's figs and it is commonly on these early figs 

 that the first brood is hatched. The eggs of the fruit-fly 

 are often pushed out of the orifice by the drop of sugary 

 liquid which exudes from the fig when it approaches 

 perfect maturity, in which case the fig escapes, the fly 

 having laid its eggs too late for them to hatch before the 

 commencement of the oozing out of the sugary liquid. 

 Unfortunately against the fruit-fly there is no remedy 

 but to pick the fruit and dispose of it as early as 

 possible, leaving no dropped fruit to remain on the 

 ground in order to give no chance to the maggots to 

 hide themselves in the soil and undergo their meta- 

 morphosis. 



The fig is liable to the ravages of another fly, viz., 

 the fig-fly (Lonchaea aristella Beck.) which is found all 

 over North Africa and Egypt, and probably also in 

 Asia Minor and Southern Europe. It has been lately 

 detected in Sorrento and Sicily by Prof. L. Savastano. 

 The maggots of this fly are very much like those of the 

 fruit fly, and the damage caused by both flies to the 



