JOURNAL OF AGHCinm RESEARCH 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Von. V Washington, D. C., January io, 1916 No. 15 
EFFECT OF COLD-STORAGE TEMPERATURES UPON THE 
MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY 
By E. A. Back, Entomological Assistant, and C. E. Pemberton, Scientific Assist¬ 
ant, Mediterranean Fruit-Fly Investigations , Bureau of Entomology 
INTRODUCTION 
Since the introduction of the Mediterranean fruit fly ( Ceraiitis capitata 
Wied.) into the Hawaiian Islands and the subsequent quarantines 
against Hawaiian fruits, the problem of the fruit grower in these islands 
has been how to use his fruit to advantage at home. Many host fruits 
of the fruit fly are ruined long before they are suitable for either the 
table or storage. There are, however, other fruits, such as the avocado 
{Persea gratissima) and certain varieties of mangos {Mangifera indica) 
and star-apples {Chrysophyllum cainto) , which, while often becoming too 
badly infested to be of use if left to ripen normally upon the tree, become 
infested so late in their development tha!t they may be preserved for 
commerce if they respond favorably to cold storage, and if such cold 
storage kills whatever stages of the fruit fly may be present in the fruit 
when picked. 
The experimental work reported in this paper was undertaken primarily 
with the hope that it would be an aid in solving the discouraging prob¬ 
lems of the local horticulturists. But whatever its value in this direc¬ 
tion, it now appears that the results may be of much greater commercial 
importance in defining the conditions under which cold-storage tempera¬ 
tures will kill the fruit fly in stored fruits, thus rendering them free from 
danger as transporters of this pest from one country to another or even 
from one infested district to another in host fruits. 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 
Cold-storage temperatures have been used in economic entomology in 
the past more to suspend insect activity than to cause death, except in 
the case of the Mediterranean fruit-fly work in Australia and Africa. 
The first practical use of cold-storage temperatures known to the writers 
was made by the manager of a large storage-warehouse company of 
Washington, D. C., in an attempt to find a safe method of protecting 
clothing from insect ravages during the warmer period of the year. At 
(657) 
Journal of Agricultural Research,. 
Dept, of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
bu 
Vol. V, No. 15 
Jan. 10, 1916 
K—22 
