BULLETIN OF THE 



EIPMIffllOrAfflfflTll 



No. 161 



Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology, L. O. Howard, Chief 

 December 18, 1914. 



THE MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY IN BERMUDA. 



By E. A. Back, 



Entomological Assistant, Mediterranean Fruit-Fly Investigations. 



INTRODUCTION. 



This paper is the result of an investigation of the fruit-fly situa- 

 tion in Bermuda, made by the writer during December, 1913, at the 

 request of Mr. C. L. Marlatt, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology and chairman of the Federal Horticultural Board, in order to 

 gain at first hand information that might be of value to the Horticul- 

 tural Board in framing its quarantine regulations against this pest. 



HISTORY OF THE FRUIT FLY IN BERMUDA. 



The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata Wied., was not 

 recorded in literature from Bermuda until 1890, when Riley and 

 Howard * report receiving specimens of infested peaches from St. 

 George. However, it had been known as a pest in Bermuda many 

 years before this date, as Mr. Claude W. McCallan, who forwarded 

 these specimens to Washington, stated in his accompanying letter 

 of April of that year that peaches had been subjected to its ravages 

 during the 25 years previous. About the year 1865 a vessel carrying 

 a cargo of fruit from the Mediterranean regions, bound for New York, 

 was forced by severe storms to discharge her cargo in Bermuda, and 

 it is the general belief that at that time the pest gained its foothold 

 in this English possession. But whatever the source of infestation, 

 it is a well-known fact that for nearly 50 years the peach industry of 

 these islands has been a ruined one, and that at the present time the 

 fruit fly is generally distributed over the islands ready to infest all 

 host fruits coming to maturity. 



LIFE HISTORY. 



Those wishing a detailed description and life history of the Mediter- 

 ranean fruit fly should refer to the publication of Quaintance, 2 pub- 

 lished by the Department of Agriculture. 



1 Riley, C. V., and Howard, L. O. The peach pest in Bermuda. (Ceratitis capitata Wied.) Order 

 Diptera: Family Trypetidee. In U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Ent., Insect life, v. 3, no. 1, p. 5-8, 2 figs., August, 

 1890. 



2 Quaintance, A. L. The Mediterranean fruit fly. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Ent. Circ. no. 160, 25 p., 

 lfig., Oct. 5,1912. 



Note. — This bulletin discusses the history of the fruit fly in Bermuda, the life history of the insect, and 

 the possibility of eradicating it from Bermuda; the bulletin is of interest to entomologists. 

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