16 
BULLETIN 643, IT. S. DEPABTMEXT OF AGBICULTUBE. 
Yet. when cut open, it was found that its center had been eaten away 
entirely and the well-grown larvae had made tunnels, shown some- 
what reduced, throughout the rind. 
Xumerous similar examples of destruction might be described. 
But it is important to remember the fact that melon-fly attack upon 
the older fruits is far more likely, except in the case of the canta- 
loupe, cucumber, and tomato, to result in larval development in open 
surface wounds and 
in deformities. 
One of the squashes 
of figure 21, the cu- 
cumbers of figure 18, 
and the watermelon 
of figure 20 illustrate 
types of deformities 
very common in Ha- 
waii. Wherever the 
fruits have been only 
slightly damaged by 
melon-fi> attack, de- 
formities result. It 
is seldom that a per- 
fectly formed cucur- 
bit is seen in the 
markets of Honolulu 
unless the fruit was 
grown under protec- 
tive coverings. Al- 
though deformities 
do not completely 
ruin the fruit, they 
restrict development 
and prevent the fruit 
from reaching its 
normal size, as illustrated by the unaffected squash and the badly 
deformed squash of figure 21 (p. 22). Cucumbers and watermelons 
so badly deformed as those shown in figures 18 and 20 are not salable, 
even though they contain no larvae. The purchaser of fruit has 
learned from experience that deformed cucumbers must be viewed 
with suspicion, for, although they may be fit for the table, they may 
contain maggots. 
FOOD OR HOST PLANTS. 
The food or host plants of the melon fly may be divided into those 
preferred and those occasionally infested and may be listed as 
follows : 
Fig. 15. — Section of watermelon vine, showing two fruits 
so devoured by larvae of the melon fly that they have 
become mummified during dry weather following attack. 
Xote that the remains of the blossom still persist. 
(Authors' illustration.) 
