460 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 11 
Length of average female (exclusive of ovipositor), 8 to 9 mm.; length of ovipositor, 
2 mm.; wing expanse, 18 to 20 mm. Length of average male, 7 to 8 mm.; wing 
expanse, 15 to 16 mm. Eyes conspicuous, of living or recently killed specimens, 
beautifully irridescent but gradually turning dark brown to blackish. Body yellow¬ 
ish-brown to almost castaneous, except ventral side of thorax which is very light 
brown to straw-colored; thorax with three sulphur colored, longitudinal stripes on 
dorsum and another on each side reaching from wing base to head; scutellum sulphur- 
yellow, abdominal segments edged with light yellow, giving appearance of three well- 
defined transverse stripes. Wings comparatively large and relatively more slender 
than those of Ceratitis; hyaline, stained in places with a distinctive pattern of yellow¬ 
ish-brown which involves the base of the wing and extends (with one slight inter¬ 
ruption) in a broad stripe along the anterior margin to the tip; the interruption alluded 
to leaving a small notch-like, clear spot near the center of the anterior wing-rnargin, 
and from the lower angle of this spot another band curves downward and backward 
to the basal angle of the wing; on the distal half of the wing is another streak, like 
an inverted V, one prolonged arm of which rests upon the posterior wing-margin, 
while the apex almost (and in certain cases, quite) joins the aforementioned stripe 
along the anterior margin, at a point just distad of the clear spot. Wings irridescent 
in certain lights. In freshly emerged individuals the eyes are unusually conspicuous 
and flash combinations of red and blue which vary with the light. Newly emerged 
flies are wholly straw-colored, with nearly clear wings, but the body soon darkens and 
the characteristic patterns on both body and wings soon become well-defined. The 
wing pattern does not seem to be absolutely constant, and some slight variations, both 
of shade and pattern, are often noted. Female ovipositor brown, tipped with black 
hairs, stout, mainly cylindrical but slightly flattened on the under side, tapering uni¬ 
formly to the tip. 
OviPOSITION 
When a female fly is ready to deposit eggs, her first care is to find a 
suitable host in which to place them. Various kinds of fruits serve for 
this purpose and they are attacked in various stages of maturity, ac¬ 
cording to the fruit chosen and the season of the year when oviposition 
takes place. When the female fly alights upon a fruit, she first ex¬ 
plores the surface, all the time gently waving her wings in the manner 
characteristic of these insects. Then when a seemingly satisfactory 
point is found, she stops and bends the ovipositor at right angles to 
the body, the abdomen remaining in the customary horizontal posi¬ 
tion and the ovipositor being bent at the point where it joins the 
abdomen. In this position the tip of the ovipositor just touches the 
surface of the fruit. Then the stylets are exerted and introduced into 
the rind. As they enter, the fly sways slightly backward, so that the 
ovipositor forms an acute angle (about 50 per cent.) with the body, in 
which position she remains during the major portion of the time occu¬ 
pied in oviposition, which varies from a trifle over thirty seconds to 
about a minute and a half. Then ensues a period of rest and explora¬ 
tion of from two to three minutes, before another puncture is made. 
The eggs are elongated, somewhat spindle shaped, whitish in color 
