METALLIC TOMATO FLY. 21 



CHAPTER CVII. 



METALLIC TOMATO FLY. 



( Lonchcea splendida . ) 

 Order : Diptera. Family : Trypetidce. 



This pest is a very handsome fly, belonging to the real 

 " Fruit Flies." It is of a metallic bluish-green in colour, 

 and less than half the size of the common house fly. The 

 body is tapered in shape, and the wings are of a smoky-pink 

 colour, which speedily fades after death a colour difficult 

 to reproduce in a drawing. The larva is not unlike that 

 of some of the ordinary fruit flies, but smaller and very 

 active. Major Broun, F.E.S., of New Zealand, describes 

 the body of this insect as glossy, dark bronze-green, head 

 and legs black, basal joint tarsi, testaceous. The eyes of 

 this insect are very large and prominent, the body being 

 somewhat short and plump for the size of the insect. 



This insect, so far as can be ascertained, is an importa- 

 tion from New South Wales ; at least, it was first observed 

 here in tomatoes imported from that State. Mr. Froggatt 

 speaks of Lonchcea being found in New Zealand and in the 

 Pacific Islands, and it would now seem to have spread to 

 most parts of Australia. 



It has been stated that this fly will only attack fruits, 

 &c., when the latter are either nearly ripe or have been 

 bruised in some way. In Victoria, our experience is that 

 it will tackle fruit, especially tomatoes, upon which no 

 bruises or abrasions of any kind can be detected, even with 

 the aid of a good lens. It is giving no end of trouble, and 

 many cases which were thought to have been attributable 

 to the Fruit Fly (Halterophom capitata), or the so-called 

 Queensland Fruit Fly (Dacus Tryoni], have been traced to 

 the depredations of this tiny insect. 



