270 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I915. 



A Pomace Fly Drosophila ampelophila Loew. et al. 



Pomace flies of various species were bred in great numbers 

 from blueberries placed in cages in the insectary, as soon as the 

 fruit became a trifle old and had lost its firmness. Unless 

 stored berries were packed securely and guarded against the 

 attack of these flies they might prove to be a very serious pest. 



In two cases in fresh berries brought in from the field the 

 v/riter has found white dipterous larvae which he believes were 

 Drosophila sp., but it is seldom, if ever, that Drosophila attacks 

 the fresh fruit. 



Care should be taken not to confuse this insect with Rhago- 

 letis. Fortunately larva, puparium and adults are all very much 

 unlike. This species is figured in Bulletin 3 of this Experiment 

 Station. 



The Currant Fruit-Weevil Pseudanthonomus validus Dietz. 



DISTRIBUTION AND HOST PLANTS. 



The currant fruit weevil (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) is quite 

 v/idely distributed in Maine as a blueberry pest for it occurs 

 both in Orono and Cherryfield, the only places in which exten- 

 sive collections of berries have been made for the study of their 

 insect enemies. Mr. R. A. Cooley of the Montana Experimeni 

 Station has bred this species from the currant and reports it 

 as a serious currant pest in that state. Dr. H. H. P. Severin. 

 who has been engaged in a special investigation for this Station 

 on the currant fruit fly during the past 2 seasons, states that he 

 lias seen no indication of the work of this species on the currant 

 in Maine. So far as the writer knows, in Maine this species is 

 confined to the low blueberries, Vaccinium pennsylvanicum and 

 V. canadense. 



SEASONAL HISTORY AND LIFE HISTORY IN THE BLUEBERRY. 



The Egg. Hibernation takes place in the adult stage. Egg 

 deposition begins about the middle of June, while the berries 

 are still small and green. Usually the female chooses one of 

 the calyx lobes in which to lay her egg. The sepals are hollow 



