THE MELON FLY IN HAWAII. 



29 



Table II. — Daily rate of oviposition of the melon flies that emerged on May 25 

 and were placed separately with fruit on June 25, 1914 — Continued. 





Number of eggs deposited. 



Date of observation. 



Fly 

 No. 1. 



Fly 



No. 2. 



Fly 



No. 3. 



Fly 



No. 4. 



Fly 

 No. 5. 



Fly 



No. 6. 



Fly 



No. 7. 



1914. 

 Nov. 22 









8 









25.„ 



10 













26 







3 









27.. .. 



2 













30 







2 

 3 



4 









Dec. 1 















2. . 



18 

 14 













6 













13... 





10 



1 

 1 

 1 









14 



15 











19 













20... 



20 













1915. 







0) 









4 







1 









8 



13 



9 













14 















16 





3 











27 



9 













Feb. 1 





0) 











27 



3 



0) 













Mar. 26 





























Total 



687 



94 



152 



261 



134 



91 



302 







1 Died on this date. 



Number of eggs deposited by single females. — It has been difficult 

 to ascertain the maximum egg-laying capacity of individual females 

 owing to the immense amount of time required in keeping the flies 

 supplied with fresh host fruits and in making the daily searches for 

 eggs deposited, and the disadvantages accruing through mortality. 

 It has been shown that the rate of oviposition, as evidenced particu- 

 larly by the data in Table II among young flies of the same age and 

 kept under identical conditions, varies for no apparent reason. The 

 total numbers of eggs deposited by the 7 females of Table II are 687, 

 94, 152, 261, 134, 91, and 302, respectively. Fly No. 1 of Table III, 

 which was placed with host fruits for the first time when she was 

 about 13 weeks old, deposited a total of 200 eggs during the remain- 

 ing 100 days of life. Since Fly No. 1 of Table II deposited 687 eggs 

 during the 10 months of life, and other females kept without access 

 to host fruits deposited eggs during the 398 to 400 days following 

 emergence (Table I), it would appear, as substantiated by the data 

 collected, that under the most favorable climatic conditions in the 

 field a total of 1,000 eggs per female is not too great a number to 

 expect of vigorous and long-lived females. _ 



Oviposition in absence of host plants. — The fact that the flies 

 whose egg-laying capacity is recorded in Tables III and IV were not 

 given an opportunity to oviposit in fruits until 3, 8, and 9 months 

 after emergence does not indicate that sexual development had been 

 completely checked during this interval, or that no eggs were depos- 



