BULLETIN 
OF THE 
WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Vol. 12 JUNE, 1914 Nos. 1 and 2 
PROCEEDINGS 
Milwaukee, Wis., May 29, 1913. 
Annual meeting of the society. 
President Barth in the chair. Thirty persons present. Minutes of last 
regular meeting read and approved. 
The chair announced, on hearing no objection to the contrary, that 
matters of business would be taken up at the conclusion of the lecture for 
the evening. 
Dr. Henry H. Severin, formerly of the Dept, of Entomology, College of 
Hawaii, thereupon addressed the society on the subject: ‘‘A Federal 
Plant Quarantine Against the Hawaiian Islands on Account of the Pres- 
ence of Fruit-flies, with a General Account of the Presence and Methods of 
Control of these Insects.” 
Dr. Severin emphasized the need of a strict quarantine, for the estab- 
lishment of these flies within the United States would eventually result 
in death to the horticultural industry. Some of the measures in force are : 
no Hawaiian fruit to be landed on the United States coast without inspec- 
tion; no fruit to be thrown overboard (for the larvae of the flies remain 
alive in sea water at least 45 hours) ; all hand baggage to be searched for 
any fruit that may be smuggled in. 
There are several species of fruit-flies that do the most damage in 
Hawaii, — the Mediterranean fruit-fly (Ceratitis capitata), and the melon 
fruit-fly {Dacus cucurbitae). Great numbers of larvae multiply in the 
fruits and vegetables and hasten decay. In Hawaii, the M. fruit-fly com- 
pletes its life history cycle in 5 to 7 weeks, and has from 7 to 10 generations 
annually. Methods of combating: buvning of all infected fruit; the dry 
method, e.g., use of poisoned molasses in sacks hung on the trees, etc.; 
mixed method, which combines the use of sprays and the dry method; 
natural method, i.e., the use of natural enemies of these insects. 
The melon fly destroyed the melon industry in Hawaii. It destroys 
almost any plant that grows above ground, but especially vegetables, 
cucurbits and other garden fruit. The imago stings the plant; great num- 
bers of larvae then develop in the plant tissues; causing rapid decay. 
Dr. Severin then told of his experiments carried on in the vicinity of 
Honolulu, in the study of the habits and methods of control of the Medi- 
terranean fruit-fly. Traps or receptacles containing oils such as citron- 
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