32 



THE APPLE MAGGOT, OR RAILROAD WORM 



The parent of the Apple Maggot is a two- winged flv that 

 appears early in sinnnier and deposits eggs in the partially 

 grown apples. These eggs are inserted one in a place, through 

 the skin of the fruit. In a few days each hatches into a mag- 



c 



Fig. 2. The Apple Maggot or Railroad Worm : <?, Fly, male ; /', Fly, female 

 c, larva. Magnified. (After Comstock and Harvey.) 



got that tunnels the fruit in all directions, becoming full-grown 

 in five or six weeks, when it is whitish or greenish white, and 

 about a quarter of an inch long. The maggot then leaves the 

 apple and generally goes into the soil an inch or less where it 

 changes to the pupa. The insects remain in this condition 

 until the following summer, when they emerge as flies again. 



The most careful observations upon the life-history of the 

 Railroad Worm have been made by Professor F. L. Harvey of 

 the Maine State College. As the conditions in New Hamp- 

 shire are practically the same as in Maine, I quote the follow- 

 ing account of the details of the insect's life-history written by 

 Professor Harvey : 



" In early seasons, under favorable conditions, the flies in 

 Maine begin to emerge about July i, and earlier in the states 

 farther south. They continue to emerge all summer and are on 

 the wing in abundance until the middle or last of September 

 and occasionally in October. Early frosts check them. The 



