46 



Mr. Brnner went to Mexico upon leave of absence for a collecting trip, 

 and was urged, incidentally to tbe other objects of bis trip, to look into 

 this matter and to secure specimens, if possible, of the worm in ques- 

 tion. He ascertained from conversation with intelligent Mexicans that 

 there were probably three worms which injured the fruit of the Orange 

 in that country. The one was a worm which works only in the skin 

 of the fruit in the States of Michoacan and Jalisco, but which, from 

 description, appeared to be a Tortricid. Another worm was described 

 as being short and thick and working inside the fruit in the same States. 

 He was unable to learn of any work in the fruit in the States bordering 

 upon the Gulf of Mexico. The third worm was found by Mr. Bruuer, 

 and the imago obtained from specimens which he brought home. These 

 l)roved to be Trypeta ludens, according to Loew's excellent descrijition 

 and figure.* The notes made by Mr. Bruuer upon finding the first 

 specimens are as follows : 



" Upon opening an orange to eat it was found to contain a couple of 

 holes immediately under the skin, penetrating into the interior. Further 

 investigation showed the oran,?e to contain eight dipterous maggots 

 measuring 10"^"'. in length. A careful examination of the outside surface 

 revealed no signs of entrance, but the inner pulp of tlie peel contained 

 a minute i^erpendicular burrow, which was continuous with that of the 

 hole in the interior of the fruit. The eggs were evidently deposited in 

 one of the pores of the skin or upon its surface, from which the freshly- 

 hatched maggots entered." 



The following note was sent to us after his return to West Point: 



"The second orange containing the maggots that came to my notice 

 was on the train. This, like the preceding, showed no outward signs 

 of occupancy by an insect eueni}'. 1 then obtained permission to ex- 

 amine a lot of upwards of five hundred oranges coming from the same 

 locality, out of which four were selected as such that might contain 

 the worms. All of these latter showed more or less well-defined out- 

 ward signs of the depredations of some insect enemy. One of these at 

 least I am sure contains the grub, for ui)on my arrival home I found a 

 freshly-made hole coming to the surface and s;iw one of the maggots 

 protruding, that afterwards was made to re-enter. The oranges were 

 l)laced in jars to breed the flies. Wouhl forward some of them to you 

 only that the weather has again turned (juite cold and 1 am afraid to 

 risk them in transit.'' 



So far as Mr. Brnner was able to ascertain, this worm is most abundant 

 in the oranges raised in the State of lAIorelos, 100 miles south of the 

 City of Mexico, and the statement was made to him while in the City of 

 Mexico that oranges from IMorelos were very linble to be thus infested. 

 Mr. r>runer returned to Nebraska early in December, and upon Decem- 

 ber 30 wrote us that several of the larv;r Ii;id pupated.. The larva' be 



I 



* Review of N. A.Trypetiua, Mou. Dipt. N.A., Part 111, iSm.IuBt., 1873, j). 223, PL 



