THE MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY. 
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tralia might be added to impress one unfamiliar with the ravages of this 
pest that it is one that can not be trifled with. The amount of 
damage which would result through the introduction of this fruit 
fly is so great that every effort should be taken to prevent its estab- 
lishment in new terri- 
tory. 
WHAT THE MEDITERRA- 
NEAN FRUIT FLY IS 
LIKE. 
The adults.— The 
Mediterranean fruit fly 
is an insect that in the 
adult stage resembles in 
size and general shape 
the ordinary house fly, 
but differs greatly in the 
color pattern of the 
body and wings and in 
its habits. In figure 5 
three adults may be seen 
attempting to lay eggs 
in an orange. The glis- 
tening black spots upon 
the insects' back, the 
two white bands on the yellowish abdomen, and the yellow and 
black markings of the wings at once distinguish this fruit fly from 
all other insects in Hawaii. The colors, brown, yellow, black, and 
white, predominate and form a pattern that can be recognized easily 
after comparison with the drawing of the 
adult fly (fig. 1). 
The eggs. — The female fly is able to 
drill, with the sharp end of her body, small 
pinhole-like breaks or punctures in the skin 
of fruits, and through these punctures she 
lays her eggs. Naturally, these egg punc- 
tures are so small that they are not seen 
by the average person, Ordinarily the fly 
Fig. 6,-Cross section of asmallapricot la J S ^ One to six eggS through these 
showing eggs laid through skin in five holes into a sinall cavity made for them 
places. (Authors' illustration.) . , ,. . ,, , -, T 
just beneath m the pulp or rind. In 
some instances several hundred of the small white eggs, which 
are only about one-twenty-seventh of an inch long and shaped as 
those illustrated in figures 6, 7, and 21, may accumulate in a single 
103876°— 18— Bull. 640 2 
Fig. 5.— Three adults of the Mediterranean fruit fly on a sweet 
orange. About two-thirds natural size. (Authors' illustration.) 
