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their eggs, which soon hatch into minute footless white maggots. Their 

 presence in the cucumber is manifested by a small yellow spot where the 

 puncture was made. Twenty seven minute maggots were counted in 

 one of these punctures. In one cucumber that had been punctured three 

 times in different places 116 of these maggots were counted. These 

 maggots eat out the entire inner substance of the fruit with the excep 

 tion of the seeds, leaving only the outer skin, which turns yellow and 

 decays, when a slight touch or a few drops of rain will cause it to 

 collapse. By that time the maggots have all attained their growth, 

 and if any of them become exposed to the sunlight they immediately 

 draw themselves together and, after the manner of the cheese maggot 

 and other species that might be mentioned, spring in all directions, 

 jumping as high as 3 feet. If the skin of the cucumber be left intact 

 they will emerge from the decayed pulp on the underside and burrow 

 at once into the earth for pupation. Fourteen days after placing 

 maggots in a breeding jar, with soil kept constantly moist, Mr. Compere 

 succeeded in obtaining the adult flies. 



In the conclusion of this letter our correspondent adds, as a warning, 

 that watermelons, canteloupes, and cucumbers should never be allowed 

 to be shipped from the Hawaiian Islands into the United States. It is 

 quite probable that this insect could be introduced into several of our 

 Southern States or recently acquired insular possessions, and it is one 

 of those species for which quarantine inspectors should be on the look- 

 out. No class of vegetables, if we except cabbages and botanically 

 related plants, are so badly infested with insects as are the cucurbits, 

 and the introduction of another new pest is most undesirable. 



The insects were referred to Mr. Coquillett, of this office, who after 

 careful examination pronounced the species an un described Trypetid. 

 He has accordingly given it the name of Dacus cucurbitw, and has 

 published a description of it in Entomological News for May, 1899, 

 under the title "A New Trypetid from Hawaii." 



A TROUBLESOME TWIG GMRDLER OF THE SOUTHWEST. 



October 23, 1899, we received from Mr. Morgan R. Wise, Oalabasas, 

 Ariz., specimens of the twigs of mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) girdled by 

 the long-horned beetle (Oncideres patator), together with the statement 

 that this very valuable tree is much injured by the girdler. The pre- 

 vious year the beetles had done much injury, so that this year the 

 girdled twigs snapped off dead. Our correspondent was of the opinion 

 that if this condition of affairs continued that ultimately the mesquite 

 tree would be exterminated by being so badly crippled as to preclude 

 the possibility of its bearing fruit. 



Mr. Schwarz, of this division, who has traveled very extensively 

 through that portion of the Southwest, states that this beetle is 

 extremely injurious to the mesquite, particularly iu western Texas, 

 southern New Mexico, and in Arizona. In certain localities which he 

 visited all of the young shoots of bushes were girdled, which has the 



