Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-30

! The news of the invasion of Florida
! by the Mediterranean fruit fly has not
! impressed the general public as it has
! the entomolog!StS and Congress. The
| fact that it took Congress only half an
hour to accept the urgent appeal of DR..
| Marlatt, chief of plant quarantine and
control administration, to make avail
| able $4.250,000 cash with which to COM
| bat the invasion-a world record in
speed of legislation-is impressive
| enough when one contemplates the
| usual procrastination of statesmen.
/ Millions to fight tiny fly! Only very
few of the insects had been discovered.
| X X X
! 1t was Saturday evening, April G.
! only two weeks ago last Saturday-when
| J. c. Goodwin, nursery inspector OF
/ the state plant board of Florida, was
| preparing some grapefruit for his sup
/ per and he cut into a fruit which con-
! tanned some larvae. 1t was fruit which
| he had had on hand since March 80.
! He sent that infected fruit by airmail
| to the Bureau of Entomology, Wash
| ington; it arrived April 10, and the
! larvae were identified as the dreaded
| Mediterranean fruit fly. called by sci
| entists "Ceratitis capit3ti-Wied." The
"Wied" is in recognition of Wiedeman,
| the entomologist who Identified and de-
/ scribed it century ago. 1t is sub
| tropical pest of great Importance. but
while it has at times invaded the
| United States it has never been able
! to become a serious pest here. However.
| its record in other countries throughout
! the world is so bad that on the day
after its Identification at the Depart
ment of Agriculture. two weeks ago, DR..
Marlatt, chief of the bureau, fastened
/ to Orlando, Fla. for personal inSpec-
/ ton and conference with the State au-
! tloritieS. He returned in few days to
scare Congress. and within half an hour
after his conference with the commit
tee of the House he got the appropria-
| ton of millions with which to combat
| the invasion.
| This appropriation was more easily
available because it was the surplus left
over out Of a large appropriation or!gl-
nalIy made to fight the boil weevil
Hundreds of experts are now on the
ground seeking to ascertain the extent
of the pest, up to date. All of Florida
is under quarantine, but in zones of diff
ferent degrees quarantine regulations
regarding the transport of fruits and
vegetables are enforced by militia. It
| is recognized that the entire fruit crop
of Florida. for series of years, and
not only of Florida. but of all the
Southern States, is endangered.
* x 4
Hawaii was infested in 1910 and the en-
tire fruit crop destroyed, except the Chi
nese bananas and the pineapples. which
are immune to the sting of the fly. Ever
since the discovery of the pest there,
most rigid inspection of all shipments,
even of the immune pineappleS and ba-
Ill
sible steps have been taken to bar the
fly out of our Pacific Coast ports, not
withstanding the distance of 1900 miles
of ocean between California and Ha
wall, for the danger comes through
ships. While precautions have also been
taken at Atlantic ports. it is great
surprise that, in spite of inspections. it.
has at last got by all quarantine-just
as it is in danger of doing today from
the Orlando district in Florida, i'll spite
Of the strictest quarantine.
X x *
DR.. o. o. Howard. former chief Of the
Bureau of Entomology. explains two
possible ways it may have entered. One
is that of bootleggers' vessels from the
West Indies. The fly is known to in
fest Bermuda. The bootleggers avoid
inspection of all kinds. for reasons only
streams where there are no inspectors.
If they have now brought in this pest
cargo. in addition to liquor, it will not
add to their popularity in Florida
The other way the flies may have come
is by aviation. 1t is known that airplaneS
flying at height of two miles or more
have picked up out of the air insects
which are trail and tender, yet are able
to fly more than 10000 feet above the
earth.
1t is not that the fruit flies have rid |
den i'll on airplanes, but the fact that !
airplanes have demonstrated the pres
ence of frail insects SO high up Sug-
gests that the fruit flies may have been
driven across the water from the West |
Indies in some storm or may have !
flown that high on their own power.
x = X x
So far as known, the pest originally !
came from the Azores. where it was re-
corded in 1888, and penetrated North I
ern Africa. 1t has been found in Euro !
pean countries as far north as Paris. and /
il attacks all fruits and most vegetables, !
with only few excepted, but it cannot /
survive cold or inclement weather, nor
can the female lay eggs except in fruit i
or vegetables that are ripening or are (
fully ripe. Then it drills tiny holes {
through the skin of the fruit and de- 4
posits therein many eggs so small as
to be almost invisible to the eyes Sew
eral flies viii deposit their eggs in the
same hole, and each female is good for
from 400 to 800 eggs in her lifetime of
less than a year. while in season there
are from four to six generations. SO that
one pair OF flies in early Spring may
become the ancestors of millions before
Fall, one pair OF parent flies producing
say, 100 the first month. each pair of
which produces 100 the next month
total. 5000, each pair of which pro-
duces 100 tie third month, 100000, ana
so on ad auseam or something. even