14 BULLETIN 732, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF’ AGRICULTURE. 
minutes or more pushes down the zigzag way to the interior of the 
fig, generally leaving her wings behind. 
While one insect is probably sufficient to fertilize a fig, it is not 
unusual where they are very abundant, as at the Maslin ‘orchard 
at Loomis, to find a dozen or fifteen in one small fig and as many 
more in astruggling mass trying to effect an entrance; often the cluster 
of wings can be seen radiating from the eye like the plumes of a 
miniature feather duster. If the caprifig from which the insect has 
issued has been hung in a Smyrna tree, she enters a Smyrna fig and 
then finds she has made a mistake, as the flowers are of such shape 
that she can not oviposit in them, and after wandering about in a 
vain effort to dispose of her eggs, in this way doing her useful work 
of fertilizmg the female flower in most cases she crawls out. When 
the weather is warm, say 90° to 100° F., the insects are very active 
and come out of the caprifig with a rush. The writer has seen 40 
issue in oneminute. The issue takes place almost entirely in the fore- 
noon, unless a cold windy morning is succeeded by a hot sun in the 
early afternoon, when a considerable number appear. Themovement 
depends much upon the weather. During cool windy mornings 
very few issue, but if the next morning is warm, calm, and sunny a 
great rush occurs. The insects continue to issue from a single fig 
for a week or ten days if the weather is favorable, and from the figs 
of various capri trees for two to three weeks. After the females 
have left the fig most of the males soon follow, and, being wingless, 
drop to the ground like the females which have lost their wings 
in entering the Smyrna figs. 
Every Smyrna fig not entered by the Blastophaga dries up and 
falls from the trees. In a few days the caprified fig undergoes a 
remarkable change. It begins to increase rapidly in size, becomes 
smooth by a lessened prominence of the ribs, and loses its pea-green 
color, assuming a decidedly pruinose tinge, this being true also of 
_the caprifig. 
PROPORTION OF MALE AND FEMALE INSECTS IN CAPRIFIGS. 
The writer has taken some pains to determine the proportions of 
the sexes of the Blastophaga in caprifigs, and has found from actual 
count of the insects of several varieties that the proportion runs from 
two-thirds to three-quarters females. The number of galls im good 
sound caprifigs, according to size, runs from 500 to 1,600. A 
medium-sized mamme caprifig has been found to contain 1,015 
heaithy galls; good Milco profichi caprifigs have been found to con- 
tain 1,200 to 1,600. After the female insects leave the caprifig most 
of them live onty 24 hours, though a very few will be found alive at 
the end of 48 hours. It is doubtful whether they eat at all. After 
the female has fulfilled the object of her existence, namely, providing 
for the future generations of her species, she dies. 
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