THE MEDITEBRANEAN FRUIT FLY. 



25 



avocados, no commercial orchards exist in Hawaii. Still there is 

 hardly a family, unless it be in the business section of Honolulu, 

 that does not grow a number of fruit trees, such as oranges, lemons, 

 papayas, peaches, avocados, limes, grapefruit, guavas, bananas, man- 

 goes, etc., that bear prodigally under normal Hawaiian cultural con- 

 ditions, and, until the advent of the fruit fly in 1910, formed a most 

 welcome addition to the food supply. 



Much of the native-grown fruit that is sold in the local market is 

 grown on trees scattered here and there in dooryards and is in 

 excess of what the 

 owner needs. Practi- 

 cally no one depends 

 on growing fruit for 

 his living. No devel- 

 oped fruit industry 

 exists such as one 

 finds on the main- 

 land, and no moneyed 

 interest concerns it- 

 self with steps for 

 fruit-fly eradication. 

 In other words, there 

 are no impelling in- 

 centives to solidify 

 public opinion for the 

 consistent and coop- 

 erative use of artificial 

 remedial measures 

 that could be made 

 effective if their ap- 

 plication would yield 

 returns warranting 

 the expenditure. 



The situation also 

 is made more difficult 

 by reason of the large amount of vegetation, bearing fruits of little 

 or no value to man, that grows throughout the islands and that 

 can not be eradicated without the expenditure of prohibitive sums 

 of money. 



But this great abundance of dooryard and wild host vegetation 

 has had such a vital part in the undoing of artificial control measures 

 and in the success of parasite introductions that it is worthy of fur- 

 ther attention. Aided by a favorable climate, it has made of Hawaii 

 a fruit-fly paradise that is not duplicated elsewhere on the earth. 



Fig. 24, 



-Improved mango sectioned to show havoc caused b y maggots 

 of Mediterranean fruit fly. (Authors' illustration.) 



