jan. 24.19x6 Banana , Host Fruit of Mediterranean Fruit Fly 
795 
discarded at time of shipment at the packing sheds because of split peel¬ 
ings or black decayed ends. Fifty fruits of the Hawaiian variety, known 
as the “ice-cream” banana {Musa sp.), cut from the tree as they were 
turning color, showed no infestation, though growing in the midst of 
other species of infested fruits. No infestation was found among 500 
overripe fruits of the Manila Hemp banana {Musa textilis) growing near 
the comer of King and Punabon Streets, Honolulu, nor among 60 fruits 
of the Borabora banana {Musa fehi ), known to the Hawaiians as the 
Polapola banana, in a ripe though not soft condition, growing in a moun¬ 
tainous ravine at the head of Manoa Valley, Oahu. 
There are no records of infestation of the Chinese and Bluefield bananas 
grown under commercial conditions in the Hawaiian Islands, or develop¬ 
ing and ripening in city lots. 
INFESTATION OF POPOULU AND MOA VARIETIES 
The only case of infestation among bananas growing in the field was 
brought to the attention of Mr. David Haughs, of the Territorial Board of 
Agriculture and Forestry, on October 17, 1913. The infested fruits were 
of the Popoulu and Moa varieties (2) of the Popoulu group {Musa spp.) 
of cooking bananas. These are short, thick bananas, with compara¬ 
tively thin skins. They are never eaten raw and, unlike the Chinese or 
Bluefield bananas, are rarely, if ever, shipped from the islands. They 
are very scarce and are strikingly distinct both from the ordinary cooking 
banana and from the banana of commerce. 
Of the 11 fruits on the bunch of Popoulu bananas when the examina¬ 
tion was made 7 were still green, though on the point of turning yellow, 
and 4 had turned yellow. There were in the peel no splits nor mechanical 
injuries and there was every evidence that the punctures found in three 
of the four ripe fruits had been made while the bunch was still on the 
tree. Mr. J. C. Bridwell, of the Hawaiian Board of Agriculture, had 
charge of the rearing, but kept no definite record of the number of adult 
flies reared from infested fruits. That larvae matured and emerged from 
one fruit at least is evidenced by the numerous emergence holes in the 
peel (PI. LIX, fig. 1). 
The Moa variety was growing in the same garden with the Popoulu 
banana. The fruits of this variety are much larger and the peel thicker. 
Of 9 fruits taken from the single bunch found, 5 were perfect, but the 
peel of the 4 other fruits was so cracked that the pulp was well exposed; 
all were green in color but mature and about to turn yellow. Mr. Brid- 
well’s notes, which have been placed at the writers’ disposal through the 
courtesy of the Territorial authorities, state that of 12 distinct attempts 
at oviposition made in the peel of the 4 sound fruits, only one puncture 
was sufficiently deep to contain eggs, but no eggs were deposited. Only 
one of the 4 cracked fruits developed larvae, and the eggs from which 
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