068 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



by the plum curculio (p. 576), it is quite probable that injury 

 by this maggot may have been attributed to the curculio and its 

 identity passed unnoticed. Sour and subacid varieties, such as the 

 Morello and Montmorency, are worst injured, but black cherries 

 and indeed all varieties are more or less damaged. 



The fly is slightly smaller than that of the apple-maggot, being 

 about one-sixth inch long with a wing expanse of three-eighths 

 inch. . The body is blackish, the head and legs are pale yellowish- 

 brown, the sides of the thorax are marked with a longitudinal 



FIG. 513. Section of a cherry, enlarged to show the maggot of the cherry 

 fruit-fly and nature of its work. The small figures above show the 

 maggot and parent fly natural size. (After Slingerland.) 



yellow band, the abdominal segments are marked with whitish 

 or pale brow r nish transverse bands, and the wings are crossed by 

 four blackish bands. The maggot is about one-quarter inch 

 long and is indistinguishable from the apple-maggot. 



Life History. The eggs are deposited just under the skin 

 of the cherry from June until August, or probably during the 

 whole season of the fruit. The eggs hatch in a few days and the 

 little maggots penetrate to the pits, feeding on the flesh and 

 'forming a rotting cavity very similar to that made by the grub of 

 the curculio. But few of the affected cherries fall from the trees. 



