2 BULLETIN 640, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
DISTRIBUTION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. 
The Mediterranean fruit fly is a cosmopolitan pest. It has been 
known to science for 100 years and during these years has spread 
throughout the world, until to-day the North American continent 
is the only large land area upon which it has not become established. 
It first attracted serious attention in London, where oranges arriving 
from the Azores were discovered to be badly decayed and wormy. 
(See fig. 2.) It was recorded as a pest in Spain in 1842, in Algeria 
in 1858, in Italy in 1863, in Sicily in 1878, and in Tunis in 1885. In 
1889 it was first reported in South Africa. It became established 
in the western part of Australia in 1897 and in the eastern part in 
Fig. 1.— Adult male Mediterranean fruit fly. Greatly enlarged. (Howard.) 
1898. In 1899 it was detected in Tasmania, in 1900 it was found 
attacking the apricot orchards near Paris, France, and during 1901 
it was reported from New Zealand and Brazil. Compere, in 1904, 
found the pest in Egypt, and in Asiatic Turkey at Beirut and Jeru- 
salem. Argentina was reported infested in 1905. Between 1909 
and 1914 it was found in the eastern and western parts of Africa, 
and in 1915 it was first reported from the Island of Madagascar. 
During 1916 it caused serious damage to the orange, tangerine, 
peach, pear, and apple crops of the Patras consular district of Greece. 
It is claimed that this was the first time in 10 years or more that this 
pest had been noticed in this district of Greece. The Bermuda 
Islands became infested during 1865. 
