jan. 24, 1916 Banana , Host Fruit of Mediterranean Fruit Fly 801 
culty in ovipositing as abundantly as they would in preferred hosts, such 
as the apple and peach, yet they find little difficulty in depositing a 
sufficient number of eggs to infest slightly a few of the fruits. 
Inasmuch as not a single egg or newly hatched larva, as recorded in the 
data, was able to live in the tannin-laden peel of green though mature 
bananas still attached to the tree, while adults were frequently able to 
reach maturity in fruits severed from the tree, from which much of the sap 
had been drained or altered by chemical changes that proceed with the 
ripening process, it is evident that the sap is the chief cause of the 
immunity of bananas to the attack of Ceratitis capitata. 
There is no danger of infestation during the interval between the time 
bananas are cut in the field and the time they are wrapped for shipment 
in the packing sheds. 
It has been noted that oviposition has taken place under forced condi¬ 
tions within from 6 to 24 hours after the fruits have been cut from the 
tree, but that eggs deposited under such conditions have either died 
or the larvae hatching from these have died without reaching the pulp. 
This leads to the question whether there is not danger of bananas becom¬ 
ing infested between the time when they are cut and the time when they 
are wrapped. The writers have never seen adult flies resting on bananas 
cut and stacked in the packing sheds, although they have personally seen 
many thousands of bunches ready for inspection during a 3-year period. 
Trade requirements demand that fruits be cut as late before the date of 
steamer sailing as possible. It therefore happens that bunches of bananas 
are inspected and wrapped within from 2 to 24 hours after they are cut, and 
this prompt wrapping removes all danger of infestation (PI. LX, fig. 1,2). 
From the fact that no infestation of growing bananas in condition for 
shipment has been known to occur in Hawaii, and that such infestations 
in cut fruits aiso suitable for shipment that are recorded have been ob¬ 
tained under forced conditions, whereas they have been found lacking 
under normal conditions, the writers believe that there is no possibility of 
infestation taking place between the time of cutting and that of wrapping. 
OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS OF OTHER ENTOMOLOGISTS 
Kirk, of New Zealand, lists (4) the banana among fruits from Australia, 
condemned in New Zealand, in which the maggots of the fruit fly 1 had 
1 From the arrangement of the text of Kirk’s bulletin (4), the Mediterranean fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata) 
is definitely listed as a banana pest. The bulletin is, however, a compilation taken for the most part verba¬ 
tim from various articles on fruit flies appearing in the Reports of the Agricultural Department of New 
Zealand, or from circulars issued by the department. A person unfamiliar with the Australian situation 
is at a loss to know to which of several fruit-fly pests reference is made in the reports of fruits found infested 
by maggots at the ports of entry. Thus, in the Thirteenth Volume of the Agricultural Reports, 1905, where 
the list including the banana among those fruits found infested was originally published, no reference is 
made to either the Queensland or the Mediterranean fruit fly; it is merely stated that the fruits listed were 
burned because found infested with the “dreaded maggot." In the report for 1906 it is definitely stated 
that only the Queensland fruit fly (Dacus tryoni) was reared that year from a list of fruits including the 
banana. The biologist of Western Australia in his report (1) for the year 1898 stated that the Queensland 
fruit fly had been brought to Western Australia in bananas. 
