THE FRUIT FLY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 20 April 1907, Page 2

THE FRUIT FLY.

DETECTION IN ORCAHRDS. Mr French, the Victorian Government entomologist ,oii- being asked {qr information by ah "Argus"- reporter for information as to how orchardists <_a.i t!6t(_ct tile presence of the fruit By amongst his trees, and for advice as to what he should do when the pest makes its appearance, said :— i- i at& at present engaged ia bringing out an illustrated artlcla on th» fruit fly, which will dppßar iu the Ap« ril immper of the "Journal of Agrlcttk turd.' It will contain all "the idforihiU tioii I arti iri a position to impa_s 6H lhe subject!" With the article Mil .$ piiblistt&d . a coloured plate showing a section of a peach with .the. grubs in the centre of the fruit; also the fly aiid and pupa in , their natural sizes and magnified. TKe life-size-; 61.,t1j8 .fl£ il about the Saine SS that jljt,. .ttfd.jtfjplln'S.^; house fly, the grub is about. naif. =, an inch long when full grown, . is c___stitlse * of" logs, but can . spring by muscular movement a distance of nearly a foot,v the colour being yellowish white. The pupa resembles that of a common blowfly, -being brown in colour, and of oval shape. . . . ■ , "Tbe first symptom the observer sees when looking for the .traces .of the fruit fly," says Mr French, "is. a .very minute puncture .-in : -Mia : ff suit.. Thjj marla is often fip SWaJI tliat ft' eatm'oS be discerned, inil6sS With, the aii of .ail ordinary, pocket lens. Even when the.---nunrt'-j; c_U_iCt-_Je iiUcicair'it-iewjar^y after the attack, as the outer sk__ve_oses over, and assumes its npimjl^appearanco. Sometimes as >many as 12 punctures are msi_B-"on one peach or other fruit, anfl nearly all the punctures contain an egg which will in time produce a fly. Tho decay of the fruit sets iii with great rapidity after the fly Das. flej-dsitetl. the egg", arid usually within a coupie of days froni tlie {laid the close observer can s£B & briiised di- pulpy apj_&.raiice tinder the _jkih, Jfl the regiofl of . the . attycft. If , €b_S fruit be touched at that spot a considerable area under the finger will B§ found to be soft ahd decomposed. The can be judged. from this jar of Raphes picked in the garden of Mr. B_; Maiden; at Flchiingtpli, oil Miii-Ch it},'' The grubs were busily engaged iu a mass of pulp, a large number of them having beeu drowned in the liquid resulting from their own operations. Mr French said that in about a week from the time of the first attack, and sometimes even in a less period, the fruit was so badly decayed that it fell to the ground. _ The perfect larvae then left the fruit and buried themselves in the soil. The grub was then changed into the pupa, -or partly dormalft chrysalis, in which condition .it remained from eight to 1$ days. Aitqr tffsi the fly came through tlje ground^ a£d immediately made Itß attack upon any. fruit within easy distance. Monthly broods will . occurr during the trhojft time there is any fruit to provide.. tlje insect with food, • this period covering six or seven months in. every year. The insects start with the apricots before Christmas, pass through the whole gamut'of the fruit season, and when winter sets in they lie in the pupa stage, and in a dormant condition await the opening of the new fruit season. Mr French says that keeping fowls in an orchard for the purpose of repressing insect pests would be to an extent valuable in relation to the fruit fly trouble. When an orchardist has satisfied himself that the fruit fiy is amongst his trees, he should commence operations at once for the eradication of the evil. If ther gare ally doubs as. to whether specmefls or fruit are affected ° r r "ot, they should be sent to Mr Mr Freiicu immediately, and he wiU furnish advice as to the best- course to pursue. Where the circumstances seem to warrant, it aft inspector will ba sent to give advice. The method of treatment for prevention and cure of the fruit fly is to remove all the fruit from the trees where the pest in any of its three stags exli. -AL i he , frmt thus amoved should be boiled for half an hour, and the resultant pulp can be used as feed for treated \v. h gas lhne, gypsum, Or ordinary biMlderf lime, to destroy the insects that are in hiding at a 'depth surfaT Tif- *?' **$" H ow «» surtace. The digging of any of these »-nf n, /i e P f st ' bat the */<*toent A West Australian orchardist by nladkranndft ? M wit ? kerosene in them around the tree and among the branches has succeeded in capturing thousands cf the insects, but he is not 2 b°efo a r y e ttiV^n "^ ™ ' oeiore or after the eggs were depositsects ™d ]h dIS^ ted some ° f the inserts, and they did not contain any