90 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
in Guantanamo and a few of the nearest 
towns, such as Jamaica, Carrera Larga 
and Ermita, it was clearly evident that its 
spread to the coffee plantations in this 
mountainous region should be prevented. 
Also it was perfectly obvious that efforts 
should be made to prevent the spread and 
propagation of the black fly in the orange 
districts, of which there are many in Cuba. 
DESCRIPTION 
The black fly is a bit difficult to de¬ 
scribe, but we may begin by saying that 
it is not a fly but a sucking bug, of the 
family Aleyrodidae. In its adult stage, or 
the insect completely developed, it looks 
very much like a small fly, a trifle larger 
than the well known gnats, and in its form 
and manner of moving around, like the 
drain fly of the family Psychodidae, so 
that the name “Black Fly” is the most de¬ 
scriptive we can find. The color of the 
adult insect is slaty gray, more or less 
blackish or bluish, according to the length 
of time out of the pupal shell and this is 
the color of the four little wings which it 
carries almost vertically over the body. 
Each of the anterior wings bears two 
whitish spots on the front border. The 
color of the body is reddish, the eyes are 
very prominent, and the antennae of good 
size with relation to the body. The adult 
black fly prefers the young and tender 
shoots of the orange trees where they con¬ 
gregate to deposit their eggs. These eggs 
appear as tiny points placed in the form 
of a spiral, always on the under side of 
the leaf. I have seen these insects fly in 
clouds from one tree to another, and with¬ 
out doubt they may fly and be carried by 
the wind for long distances. A period of 
ten days or two weeks passes before the 
larvae emerge from the eggs and these 
then crawl about over the under surface 
of the leaf seeking a place to begin opera¬ 
tions. Once settled they thrust their tiny 
beaks into the leaf and begin to extract 
the plant juices. In heavily infested dis¬ 
tricts, the under sides of the leaves of all 
citrus and other orchard trees will be 
found to be completely black and but lit¬ 
tle time elapses before the trees begin to 
lose their leaves, which curl, wither and 
finally fall. The fruit itself loses flavor 
and sweetness. Trees attacked by the 
black fly and which lose their leaves soon 
die as though hit by a blast. 
The intermediate stage between the lar¬ 
val and adult stage of the black fly, called 
the pupal stage, lasts but few weeks. The 
black fly in this stage is nearly as large as 
the head of a pin, looks like a glossy black 
scale and is covered with tiny spines. To 
these the insect owes its name of “Spiny 
Citrus White Fly.” The black fly, so- 
called, is a true white fly, of the same 
group with which the Florida growers are 
so familiar, but is the most dangerous and 
most difficult to control of all the white 
flies. 
The most efficient method of control- 
ing this pest is by the fumigation of the 
plant with hydrocyanic acid gas, but this 
method is very costly and requires a spe¬ 
cial apparatus, canvas tents, etc., for its 
use, and is very dangerous to use except 
by those thoroughly familiar with this 
method of control. Climatic conditions in 
Cuba and Florida are not favorable to 
fumigation. Another method is the use 
