The record-union., 1898-04-23

worms and Mexican Orange MaggOtS
was read by Alexander Craw, State
Quarantine officer, at the State Horti-
cultural Convention recently held at
Riverside:
In the fall Of 1873 I observed in the
orange groves Of Los Angeles a few
prematurely colored oranges, and upon
investigating the cause l found in each
a small cylindricaI-shaped caterpillar,
with six spiny legs and ten abdominal,
or pro-legs l at first supposed this was
Identical with the 'cOdlin moth larvae
CCarpocapse pomonella) in apples and
pears They, however, lacked the pink
ish tinge Of the latter and when dis
turbed or removed from their burrows
IN the skin of the orange they were
very active and squirmed in a lively
manner, suspending themselves by
their silken thread.
About the entrance to their burrows
is frequently found considerable of
their silk, spun in such d way as to in
dicate that it was intended to protect
them from the attack of other insects
or birds. / bred the caterpillar to the
moth, and in this stage it is very dis
tinct from the "codIin moth" The
bronze tips to the wings are wanting
and the moth smaller. I exhibited dry
specimens of the perfect moth and
larvae in alcohol, together with other
injurious and beneficial insects found
in the orchards Of toe southern cOun-
ties, at one of the first citrus fairs held
in Riverside At that time / estimated
that not more than one orange in a
thousand was attacked by this worm
in Los Angeles groves. and this esti-
mate has not been exceeded since then.
Professor A. ]. Cook, the entomol-
ogist of Pomona College, Claremont, is
a very careful observer. and his esti-
mate for this season is the same, as the
following note to me. under date of No
vember %, 1891, viii show: do you
know the little Torcricid larva that
works in the orange? 1t is quite bad
this season. Perhaps one orange in a
thousand is attacked"
The worm has been found every aut-
unn since 1878, but did not attract any
special attention until last fall, and
that was caused by the reports pub
lished in several of the local papers re-
garding the seriousness of the "Mexi-
can orange maggot' (Trypeta ludens).
to crop may appear trivial. and would
generally be overlooked by the grower
still it was sufficient to cause uneasi-
ness in the minds of California orange
growers, and more inquiries were made
regarding it than ever before.
a shipper Of Sonora oranges saw in
the general alarm that was created
against Mexican oranges that it would
1;-a
culated a statement that the Mexican
orange worm" already existed in Cali
fornia. This was widely copied A
party in Riverside wrote to the San
Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and
extracts from his letter were published
in the press Of the State In part, he
said: Nearly all the oranges now be
ing shipped into this country. as you
doubtless are aware. are reeking with
the destructive orange worm" Such a
statement could not have been assur-
ing to our orange growers, and nat
urally would lead them to suppose that
their interests were not properly guard
ed by the State Board of Horticulture.
/ am in a position to know that the
statement was not correct, as California
receives no oranges from the State of
MOrelos. where the orange maggOt is
found. The few impOrtatiOns that have
been received from the western coast
of Mexico have been found clean The
fruit upon arrival is carefully inspected,
sound oranges are cut open for exam
ination. and any that look suspicious
or show any evidence of decay are care
fully dissected, but SO far no trace of
worms or maggOts have been found.
Mexican lines and "sweet lines" COM
ing into the state from Central Amer
lea are also inspected.
Last wear | requested the General
Freight Agent of the Mexican Central
Railway Company to caution their ship
pers against sending oranges to Cali
fOrnia. for in the event of the fruit being
found infested with the Mexican orange
maggot. it would be Immediately de-
stroyed. In reply he said: There will
be no shipments of fruit from this
country to California and according TO
the best information now at hand there
will be no shipments of oranges from
the State of Morelos to any point in the
United States during this season. as
these oranges did not give satisfaction
last year" While this was partially as
suring there was no guarantee that the
orange growers of AIorelos would keep
their fruit at home, so a strict watch
was maintained. l called the attention
of the Department of Agriculture to the
necessity Of quarantine station being
established at FL PasO and Eagle Pass,
but in the absence of Federal laws moth
ing could be done
The Southern Pacific Company.
through their General Freight Agent,
William Sproule. has rendered Us val
liable assistance in this work. Fruit
growers will see by this that everything
that could possibly be done under our
laws has been attended to. in prevent
inc the introduction of such a pest.
With the passage of a correctly drawn
national horticultural quarantine law,
such fruit would be excluded not only
from California but from the United
States In order that orange growers
NAV not become unnecessarily alarmed
uDon finding a worm in an orange l VIII
point out the prominent characters OF
the two.
In the case of the Mexican orange
maggot no external indication Of its
presence is manifest to the ordinary ob-
server. in the appearance of the fruit.
If any spot or discoloration is noticeable
upon the skin the surface should be cut
50 as to reveal the inner skin. If 1t is
the work of the trypeta small perpen-
dicular hole will be seen to pass through
that and enter the pulp. This is where