14 
BULLETIN 643, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
of the ovaries of watermelon bloom that in dn T weather the remains 
of the bloom wither and become mummified, as shown in figure 15. 
An examination of the buds of the male bloom in any field through- 
out the coastal regions of the Island of Oahu, particularly during 
the months from March to November, will reveal the severity of 
attack centered on this portion of the plant. 
Wherever the buds have been attacked, a whit- 
ish gumlike excretion . exudes which hardens 
about the point of attack. On cutting the buds 
lengthwise, batches of eggs can be seen among 
the folds of the corolla, or in the stamens and 
receptacle, as shown in figure 11 (p. 12). As 
the eggs are pure white and are in clusters 
of 2 to 10 or more, they are seen easily with- 
out the aid of a lens. If the eggs have been 
laid from 2 to 6 days, the inside of the bud 
may have been already eaten out by the rap- 
idly developing larvae. Buds attacked before 
they are half grown usually are destiwed com- 
pletely before the blossom unfolds. Figure 11 
shows three stages in the destruction of the 
staminate bloom. The bud a is a mass of 
decay within ; the stamens have been devoured 
and the larvae already have begun to burrow 
about the base; b shows a bud that has been 
severed by the feeding of the larvae and mis 
fallen over under its own weight; and c is the 
upright stem of the bud, after the essential 
parts of the bloom have been ruined and have 
fallen to the ground. Although attack may 
occur so late in the development of the male 
bloom that the corolla can unfold, it is more 
often than not that eggs, or even young larva?, 
can be seen on the inside of the corolla when 
the flower is in full bloom. The melon fly never 
attacks the bloom after the corolla has unf olded, 
INJURY TO NEWLY SET FRUITS. 
Fig. 13.— P i s t i 1 1 a t e 
bloom of squash in 
which larvae of the 
melon fly have so de- 
voured the unferti- 
lized ovary that the 
bloom is destroyed be- 
fore the flower can 
unfold. (Authors' 
illustration.) 
The greatest destruction among fruits usu- 
ally occurs when they are very young, either ( 
before they are fertilized or just after they have set. At this 
stage of development the young fruits are expanding very rap- 
idly. Figure 1G shows the damage done to three young pumpkin 
fruits. About the damaged areas calluses are formed by the fruit 
in an attempt to repair the damage, but this attempt seldom 
