18 



BULLETIN 643, L. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



they are ready for market. Although cantaloupe growing has been 

 abandoned practically in Hawaii since the advent of the melon fly, 

 cucumbers are grown without protection of any sort. Practically all 

 fruits reaching a size fit for salad use show evidences of attack at one 



or more spots, but; 

 the percentage of 

 fruits rendered un- 

 marketable is not 

 large enough to 

 force the oriental 

 growers to cover 

 the young fruits, 

 although it would 

 appear disastrously 

 large to American 

 market gardeners, 

 who place a high 

 value on their time. 

 During midwinter 

 150 out of 153 cu- 

 cumbers, ready for 

 the market at Moi- 

 liili, were found in- 

 fested variously. 



All cucurbits grow 

 with such rapidity 

 in Hawaii that the 

 oriental is willing to 

 permit the pest to 

 destroy fully 50 per 

 cent of the fruits 

 rather than go to the 

 expense of covering 

 each fruit as soon as 

 or before it sets. To 

 prevent wholesale in- 

 jury, all cucurbits 

 except cucumbers 

 must be covered be- 

 fore or just after 

 blooming. 



Aside from the 

 fact that the seedlings and vines of all cucurbits except canta- 

 loupe and watermelon are attacked but slightly, there is little differ- 

 ence in the susceptibility to attack of the young fruits under 



Fig. 17. — Cross section of young pumpkin, showing work 

 of larvae of melon fly. Each affected area represents 

 the location of a colony of larvae. ( Authors' illus- 

 tration.) 



