8 



BULLETIN 640, U, S. DEPARTMENT? OF AGRICULTURE, 



XI6 



egg cavity as the result of repeated egg laying by many females 



through the same opening in the skin. 



Tfi.e larvae. — The eggs hatch into whitish larva?, or maggots, that 



burrow or tunnel in all directions through the pulp, feeding as they 



go and causing decavs to start. 

 "When first hatched they are very 

 difficult to detect, but when full 

 grown they are very white and, 

 although only four-sixteenths to 

 five-sixteenths of an inch long, 

 are quite easily seen. Full-grown 

 maggots have the peculiar habit, if 

 taken out of the fruit and placed 

 upon a smooth surface, of curling 

 up and jumping from 1 to 6 inches. 

 For the general appearance of 

 the larva? see figures 8 and 9. a. 



The pupae. — After leaving the 

 fruit upon which they have fed, 

 the larva? either burrow into the 

 soil to depths varying up to 2 



inches or seek shelter under any object upon the ground and there 



transform to the pupa or chrysalis stage. During this stage the 



insect is not able to move and re- 

 sembles the seedlike object illustrated 



in figure 9, b. Although outwardly 



appearing quite dead, inwardly the 



wonderful changes are taking place 



by means of which nature transforms 



the ugly maggot into the beautiful fly; 



and in the course of a few days the 



adult fl}- breaks forth from the pupa, 



pushes her way up through the soil, 



and, as the mother of a second gen- 

 eration, flies back to the tree and 



searches for fruits in which to lay her 



eggs. 



INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE ADULT FLY. 



Fig. 7.— Cross section of peach showing general 

 shriveling of walls of egg cavity and separation 

 of eggs. Drawing made one and one-half days 

 after eggs were laid. (Authors' illustration.) 



Incapable of inflicting bodily injury 

 on man, the adult fly is, nevertheless, 

 the fruit growers' most persistent 

 enemy in Flawaii. for she is contin- 

 uously searching for fruits in which 

 to lay her eggs. Adults die within three to four days if they have 



Fig. 8. — Small mango fruit cut to show white 

 larvae or maggots of Mediterranean fruit 

 fly and damage they have ca 

 (Severin.) 



