RUTT FLIES. 



iW 



FIG. 193. 

 The Peach My. (Magnified.} 



Hanchi, and the Mango Fly 1 of Behar, the United Provinces and other parts 



of India being the more important species. There are in addition species 



which attack the brinjal, the turia, the various melons and gourds, the fruit 



of the akh (Calotropis spp.) and other wild 

 plants. These insects cannot be said to 

 be known as serious pests; they may be 

 so, as the cultivators do not report such 

 attacks and it is only rarely that they 

 can be investigated. The Mango Fly is 

 perhaps best known, as it attacks a fruit 

 of general consumption and is noticed 

 by many persons. 



The life history of fruit flies is gen- 

 erally as follows : the female lays eggs 

 in the tissue of the fruit, piercing the 

 rind by means of the ovipositor, the 



sting-like continuation of the abdomen. A number of small white eggs 



are laid, which hatch in a few days to tiny white maggots. The 



maggots live on the pulp, making tunnels through it and perforating it 



in all directions. This period lasts about ten days, and the maggot 



then leaves the fruit and enters the earth, where it becomes a pupa. 



From this the fly emerges after the lapse of about a week. The 



details of this life history 



vary for different fruit 



flies, but such are the 



salient facts. 



The Melon Fly is in- 



jurious in Baluchistan 



and the Punjab; its life 



history has been recently 



worked out. 2 The female 



lays one or several 



eggs (4-7) singly or in 



batches on the rind of 



\ 



Fm. 194. 



The Baluchistan Melon Fly. Larva on the right, 

 pupa in the middle. (Magnified.) 



the fruit in the early 



hours of the morning, a 



very young fruit being generally chosen for oviposition. The eggs are 



white, oval and elongate, hatching in 4 to 5 days. The small white 



larvsB at once bore into the fruit ; as they proceed into the pulp, the 



1 129. Dacus ferrugineus Ol. (Trypetidue.) 



2 Report of Lala Vishwa Nath Sahai, Entomological Assistant, Punjab. 



