UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



SyJ&^mTU 



BULLETIN No. 640 



Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology 

 L. O. HOWARD, Chief 



j&&*¥Uu 



Washington, D. C. 



April 8, 1918 



THE MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Distribution throughout the world 2 



Establishment and spread in Hawaii 3 



How the fruit fly got into Hawaii 4 



Losses incurred through the fruit fly 5 



What the Mediterranean fruit fly is like 7 



Fruits, nuts, and vegetables attacked 11 



Host fruits of commercial value 15 



Artificial methods of control not satisfactory 



under Hawaiian conditions 24 



The campaign against the fruit fly in Hawaii . . 2G 



Natural control of the fruit fly 37 



Quarentine measures to prevent introduction. 41 



Summary 42 



THE HORTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT of the Hawaiian 

 Islands has been almost stopped since 1910 by the activity of two 

 fruit-fly pests — the Mediterranean fruit fly * and the melon fly. 2 3 



These two pests are being intercepted continually by quarantine 

 officials at our ports of entry and they are therefore feared by, and are 

 of vital interest to, every fruit and - vegetable grower in the warmer por- 

 tions of the Pacific and Gulf coast States. Every possible barrier to 

 the establishment of these pests on the mainland United States is beino- 

 erected by the Federal Horticultural Board, working in cooperation 

 with State officials. Quarantines now regulate the movement of 

 horticultural products from infested countries; hence the greatest 

 danger to California, Florida, and Mexican territory now lies in the 

 unintentional spread of fruit-fly pests by uninformed travelers who 

 may carry infested fruits upon their persons or in their baggage. 



The Mediterranean fruit fly (fig. 1) is one of the recently introduced 

 pests of Hawaii. It has found climatic and food conditions so favor- 

 able that at present there is not a family unaffected by its ravages. 

 It is doubtful if there exist in any other place in the world conditions 

 so favorable to the rapid spread and thorough establishment of this 

 pest as those in the Hawaiian Islands. 



1 "The Mediterranean Fruit Fly in Hawaii," E. A. Back and C E. Pemberton, Department of Agri- 

 culture Bulletin 536. ( Ceratitis capitata Wied.) 



2 "The Melon Fly in Hawaii," E. A. Back and C. E. Pemberton, Department of Agriculture Bulletin 

 491. (Bactrocera cucurbitae Coq.) 



3 "The Melon Fly," E. A. Back, C E. Pemberton, Department of Agriculture Bulletin 643. 

 Note.— The manuscript of this paper was prepared for publication as a Farmers' Bulletin, but owing 



to the fact that it deals with an insect which has not yet been introduced into the United States it was 

 considered more appropriate to issue it in the series of Department Bulletins. 

 103876°— IS— Bull. 640 1 



