i8 
OBSERVATIONS UPON 
THE GOOSEBERRY FRUIT-FLY. 
{Trypet a canadensis Loew.*) 
When the first green gooseberries were picked 
from our garden last summer, it was noticed that 
many of them had been stung by some insect. On 
visiting the bushes it was found that fully one-half 
of the berries had been stung and were turning red 
upon one side and falling. The punctures appeared 
as if they had been made by thrusting a sharp needle 
obliquely through the skin of the fruit. If the fruit 
was freshly stung, this puncture was all there was to 
be seen, but the fruit soon turned red about the 
stung spots and in a few days fell to the ground. By 
raising the skin at the puncture a little white egg 
or minute maggot could be easily found. 
The gooseberry bushes under observation lost 
fully 75 per cent of their fruit from this cause, 
and the currants suffered a good deal. By a little 
careful watching among the bushes I succeeded 
in finding the insect that was the cause of the 
mischief and had the pleasure of seeing the eggs 
deposited. The parent insect is a two-winged fly 
"Determined for me by Mr. L. O. Howard, Div. of Entomology, Washington, 
D. C. 
