. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. Entomology. 178 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. VII, I. Introduction. The most destructive pest of the Cucurbitaceae in the Hawaiian Islands is commonly called the Melon Fly (Dacus cucurbitas Coq.) or the Bitter Gourd Fruit Fly in other parts of the world. Previous to the accidental introduction of this insect into Hawaii, melons were sold at ten cents each, but today the consumer often pays from fifty cents to one dollar for a watermelon. It has been estimated that the loss in the Hawaiian Islands amounts to almost a million doll
. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. Entomology. 178 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. VII, I. Introduction. The most destructive pest of the Cucurbitaceae in the Hawaiian Islands is commonly called the Melon Fly (Dacus cucurbitas Coq.) or the Bitter Gourd Fruit Fly in other parts of the world. Previous to the accidental introduction of this insect into Hawaii, melons were sold at ten cents each, but today the consumer often pays from fifty cents to one dollar for a watermelon. It has been estimated that the loss in the Hawaiian Islands amounts to almost a million dollars annually, in tribute to this fly, or a little over five cents a day for a family. Text Fig. 1. Melon fly, Dacus cucurbitag Coq. (After Perkins). •of four, on an estimated population of 192,000. When one stops to consider that the Hawaiian Islands are smaller than the state of Rhode Island, that the principal agricultural products are sugar, pineapples, coffee and rice, one realizes what a tre- mendous amount of injury this fruit fly causes to the limited vegetable crops grown in the islands. Thi^ trypetid has been allowed to play havoc unmolested for a period of sixteen years or more, so that today in many localities swarming with the pest, barely do the seeds of some cucurbits germinate, when the seedlings are "stung" by the flies; the larvse which hatch from the eggs devour the tissue of the stems and cause decay, then the maggots penetrate into the roots and completely •destroy the Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Entomological Society of America. [College Park, Md. , etc. ] : Entomological Society of America
Size: 1929px × 1295px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectentomology, bookyear1
