802 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. V, No. 17 
been found. French, of Victoria, Australia, states (3) that adults of this 
pest were reared from bananas (Musa sp.) exported from Queensland, 
Australia, and that on many occasions he has proved eggs to have been 
deposited in green bananas before shipment from Queensland to Mel¬ 
bourne. Both Kirk and French are aware that the Queensland fruit 
fly (Dacus tryoni) is a pest of bananas grown in Queensland and that 
confusion between the two fruit flies might occur if observations were 
made by untrained inspectors. 
The only actual data, aside from those presented in this paper, giving 
the results of experimental work to determine the status of the banana 
as a host fruit of the Mediterranean fruit fly have been presented by 
Severin and Hartung (5, 6). This work was done in Honolulu and the 
results are of such value that they should be consulted by those interested. 
Their experiments, however, were carried on with fruits detached from 
the tree, and when green fruits were used no statement regarding the 
degree of greenness was made. In view of the fact that they reared 
specimens of the fruit fly from only two fruits out of “hundreds of 
bunches of bananas” examined on trees cut down in Honolulu during a 
campaign against mosquitoes, the writers seriously question the state¬ 
ment made by Severin in a later publication (7) that the “fruit fly was 
also bred from a half-ripe banana under field conditions.” The fact 
that Severin reared numerous specimens of the decay flies, Acritochaeta 
pulvinaia , Euxesta annonae Fab.,and Notogramma stigma Fab., besides a 
number of species of Drosophilidae, is ample evidence that the trees from 
which the two fruits were taken had been cut sufficiently long for decay 
to have started in many fruits, had he not stated that one of the two 
fruits from which he reared adult flies was in a bruised and decaying 
condition and that its pulp had already turned yellow beneath the decayed 
area. It is general knowledge in Honolulu that such quantities of 
bearing banana trees were cut down during the campaign mentioned 
that the city garbage department was completely demoralized and that 
the trees with their fruit attached were stacked along the streets in 
certain parts of the city for over a week, thus giving fruit flies an oppor¬ 
tunity to oviposit under, not growing or field, but abnormal conditions. 
CONCLUSIONS 
Since the Mediterranean fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata Wied.) has not been 
found infesting the Chinese banana (Musa cavendishii) or the Bluefield 
banana (Musa sp.) during the three years that the Federal Government 
has had charge of the inspection of export bananas in the Hawaiian 
Islands, it is evident that some reason exists for this practical immunity. 
This is the more apparent since adult flies of both sexes have been found 
present in all parts of banana plantations, and surrounding fruits known 
to be hosts have been heavily infested. 
