DISPOSAL BY BURIAL OF FRUIT-FLY INFESTED FRUIT 



found in the unpacked series and 3.3 percent in the packed series. 

 Approximately 5 percent of the puparia were found in the inch of soil 

 taken from the hard bottoms of the pits of both series. 



Table 5. — Number and 'percentages of Mexican fruit fly puparia recovered in the 

 same layers of all pits of the packed and unpacked series 1 



Position of layer 



(distance in inches 



above fruit) 



Unpacked 

 series 

 (7 pits) 



Packed 

 series 

 (6 pits) 



Position of layer 



(distance in inches 



above fruit) 



Unpacked 

 series 

 (7 pits) 



Packed 

 series 

 (6 pits) 



Pupa- 

 ria 

 recov- 

 ered 



Pro- 

 por- 

 tion 

 of 

 total 



Pupa- 

 ria 

 recov- 

 ered 



Pro- 

 por- 

 tion 

 of 

 total 



Pupa- 

 ria 

 recov- 

 ered 



Pro- 

 por- 

 tion 

 of 

 total 



Pupa- 

 ria 

 recov- 

 ered 



Pro- 

 por- 

 tion 

 of 

 total 



22 



Num- 

 ber 



1 



Per- 

 cent 

 0.02 



Num- 

 ber 



Per- 

 cent 



2 



Num- 

 ber 

 215 

 463 



3, 545 



211 



Per- 

 cent 

 4.72 



10.17 



77.86 

 4.63 



Num- 

 ber 

 86 

 256 



2,091 



136 



Per- 

 cent 

 3 30 



21 



1 



0.04 



1 



2-inch space occupied 

 by fruit 



1 inch below bottom 

 of pit 



9.82 



16 



1 

 1 



12 

 15 

 29 

 53 



.02 

 .02 

 .15 

 .26 

 .33 

 .64 

 1.16 





8 







80.24 



7 __ - - 



1 



.04 





6 



5.22 





3 



14 

 18 



.12 

 .54 

 .69 



Total 





4 .__ - 



4,553 



100. 00 



2,606 



100.00 



3 









1 Puparia include those that were empty and full; also those represented by caudal ends or mid-sections; 

 in the latter case the greater number of either one is included. 



The tendency of some larvae to travel considerable distances from 

 the fruit toward the surface of the soil before pupating is illustrated 

 by the recovery of a puparium 22 inches above the fruit in a pit con- 

 taining 27 inches of unpacked soil; another at 16 inches above in a pit 

 containing 26 inches of unpacked soil, and a third at 8 inches above 

 in a pit containing only 18 inches of soil above the mangoes (table 5). 

 It is significant that flies emerged from the first and third of these 

 pits. That means the flies had to travel at least 5 inches in the first 

 instance and 10 inches in the second instance, if any emerged from 

 those puparia found close to the surface. In the packed series of pits 

 one puparium was found 21 inches and another 7 inches above the 

 fruit, both in the 30-inch pit. All the other puparia in this series 

 were recovered at 5 inches or less above the level of the fruit. 



The total number of adults recovered from both series was very 

 small; only 972, or 22.92 percent, of those represented by empty 

 puparia were found in the unpacked series, and 303, or 12.35 percent, 

 in the packed series (tables 6 and 7). The difference in the percent- 

 ages is probably due to the fact that the soil of most of the pits of the 

 packed series had to be washed. More adult material was probably 

 lost by this method than by sifting the soil. The number of adults 

 recovered, however, should give an indication of the effect of packing 

 the soil in this series. Very few adults were recovered from the soil 

 around the fruit. Of the total number of adults found in the un- 

 packed series of pits, 74.1 percent were within 7 inches of soil above 

 the fruit, 54 percent being in the 4 layers from 4 to 7 inches, 

 inclusive, above the fruit. These data are to be compared with those 

 of the packed series, in which 78.9 percent of the flies were in the first 

 7 inches of soil and 44.9 percent in the layers 4 to 7 inches above the 

 fruit. There was a good recovery of adults in the unpacked series 



