THE MELON FLY IN HAWAII. 17 



had evidently retreated when the outer decayed leaves were dis- 

 turbed. 



Kohlrabi has been reported infested by Severin 1 (45). The writ- 

 ers have never found larvae attacking this plant, and because of the 

 frequency with which the larvae of Acritochaeta pulvinata are found 

 in decaying portions, as in cabbage, the writers believe that cabbage 

 and kohlrabi have been erroneously recorded as host plants. 



PEPPERS. 



Fullaway (44) in 1913 is responsible for the only record of pep- 

 pers as a host fruit for the melon fly, although he does not state the 

 nature of the infestation. Larvae of Acritochaeta pulvinata and of 

 the Mediterranean fruit fly are found in bell peppers. The careful 

 examination of 1,000 bell peppers grown at Waikiki close by badly 

 infested tomatoes and cucumbers during November, 1915, shoAved 

 infestation only by the Mediterranean fruit fly. A like number of 

 fruits gathered from the same locality during August, 1914, and 

 placed over sand in jars produced no evidence of infestation by the 

 melon fly. 



WILD FOOD PLANTS. 



The two species of cucurbits, Sycos sp. and Chinese cucumber 

 {MomorSca sp.), are the only host fruits that can be considered wild 

 in Hawaii. The Momordica beyond question has recently escaped 

 cultivation. The fruits of both are readily susceptible to melon-fly 

 attack. Fortunately Sycos sp. (PL XXI, fig. 2) is not abundant 

 and the Momordica (PI. XXII) is limited in its distribution al- 

 though spreading fast. 



The writers have found fruits of the Sycos infested on the wind- 

 ward side of Oahu and in the Kona district of Hawaii. The 

 Momordica has escaped cultivation in many places in Hawaii and 

 wherever present is found infested. On the island of Hawaii, in 

 the Kona district, from sea level to about 1,500 feet, its vines have 

 formed dense growths over the stone walls and bushes and have even 

 killed out large patches of grass. Its fruits are more susceptible to 

 attack than those of Sycos, but both host fruits, especially in Kona, 

 furnish with their fruits ripening at all seasons a continuing supply 

 of food upon which the melon-fly larvae can feed, whether or not 

 cultivated host fruits are grown in their neighborhood. From 

 Momordica vines covering a patch of pasture land 6 feet square, 

 331 fruits were gathered during November, 1914, of which only 12 

 had not been infested. 



1 Severin states in correspondence that he certainly reared the melon fly from kohlrabi 

 and eggplant under field conditions. 



65732°— Bull. 491— IT 2 



