THE MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY 



19 



well-grown though green-colored fruits of the Moa variety, the peel 

 of which had become cracked, thus causing a break in nature's normal 

 protection to the pulp. Figure 15 is a cross section of a Moa banana, 

 showing the tunnels made through the pulp by the larvae, and the 

 darkened decayed areas about the tunnels. Adults have been reared 

 also from another variety of cooking bananas. 



Because flies have been reared from cooking bananas, it is not 

 considered safe to permit their export to the coast, and they have 

 been placed on the 

 list of quarantined 

 fruits by the Federal 

 Horticultural Board. 

 The Chinese and Blue- 

 fields bananas may 

 still be exported from 

 Hawaii, provided 

 they are grown and 

 inspected before ship- 

 ment in accordance 

 with Federal regula- 

 tions. So far as is 

 known, the "apple" 

 and the "ice-cream" 

 bananas common in 

 Hawaii are not in- 

 fested. 



COFFEE. 



Coffee cherries as 

 they ripen are favor- 

 ite hosts of the Medi- 

 terranean fruit fly. 

 Fortunately, the 

 larvae attack only the 

 pulp surrounding the 

 beans or seeds, and 

 in no way affect the 

 value of the latter (see 

 fig. 11, 6). Chemical analyses of beans from infested and uninfested 

 cherries, tasting tests of coffee made from similar roasted beans, and 

 weighings made of dried beans have failed to reveal any ill effect to 

 the beans themselves due to fruit-fly attack. 



The unrestricted development of larvae within coffee cherries, 

 however, does bring about certain losses to the grower and mill 

 owner. Before parasites were introduced cherries became infested 



Fig. 17. — Sweet bell pepper infested by Mediterranean fruit-fly larvae. 

 Note that the upper right-hand portion of fruit has decayed as a 

 result of attack. This decay later extends to all parts of the fruit. 

 (Original.) 



