P- ' sj I ClRCULAH N I oitecl Slates Department <> BUREAU OK KNTOM L. O. IIOWAkl). l I III kPPl I I IOGOT OK • KM i Bhagoli lis | / > ypi hi | pumom B] A. I.. Ql \1 N I \N' I . Iii Chargi "f Deciduous Fruit Insect Investigations. Five important insect pests injure the fruit of 1 1 » * ■ apple in tin' United States, namely, the codling moth i < 'arpocapsa i><>nm„, II,' I .. . . the lesser apple worm I Enarmonia prunieora Walsh), the plum cur- culio (C ' onotrachelua nenuphar Hbst.), the apple curculio (Antho- uadrigibbus Say), and the species under consideration. h i'ir. |.- ipp)e maggot ■ /.•'■••■■ larva or maggot; <■. tunnel 'I. puparlum : • . . g injury by m I d ; c, still more enlarged ; • . reduced, i Original. I The apple maggot, as the name implies, is the larva of a fly or dipterous insect, and belongs to the family Trypetidae, which group contains numerous other fruit-infesting maggots," some of them very serious pests, and, from their structure, mode of life, and feeding habits, very difficult of control. Apple- injured or " railroaded " by the apple maggot show discolored winding burrows, or track-, and ■ Inastrcpha i Trypeta) ludens Loew., the so-called Mexican orange worm, is an enemy of oranges In portions of Mexico, Infesting also the gnava and mango, and .1. ocidusa Walk, infests the peacb in the same country. Rhagoletis ribicola Doane infests currants and gooseberries In the United states, as does also Epochra canadensis Loew. /.'. cingulata Loew has recently been found to 1h- a cherry pest lu this country, working In a~Tnry-^ntHku^_iii_jJie_Knro|>ean cherry rlv. Trypeta etrasi L. (signata Meig.>. Vemiltts. capitat fEe 878 No. 101— OG cavities. herd and there in the flesh, and when infested with several Larvae the pulp will be usually quite honeycombed with their burrows and more or less broken down into a yellowish mass, merely held together by the skin. (See fig. 1, c.) DISTRIBUTION AM) DE8TRTJCTIVENESS. The apple maggot is a native American specie.-, its natural food being haws (Crataegus), and in at least one instance it has been bred from crab-apples. Its feeding upon cultivated apple.- is thus an ac- quired habit, and although the insect has been reported from widely separated points in the central and eastern State.-, indicating its pos- sible general distribution, for some reason it does not attack the apple throughout its range, but only in certain localities and portions of the country. This circumstance is a fortunate one for the apple grower, and from a scientific standpoint is of much interest. Walsh thought it might be explained on the supposition of the development in the New England States, where its injuries to apples were first noticed. of a race of apple-infesting individuals, the descendants of which, with the acquired habit, have been gradually distributed to other localities. The apple maggot was described by Walsh in the American Jour- nal of Horticulture for December, 1867, pages 338-343, and also in the First Report of the Acting State Entomologist of Illinois, from flies from eastern apples and from Illinois haw.-. Adult specimens from this latter fruit had been secured by him some five or six years earlier, and in July, 1867, he reared Mies from maggots infesting ap- ples from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York, and conclu- .sively showed the identity of the insects infesting haw- in Illinois with those infesting apples in the northeastern part of the United States. In the New England States mentioned, however, the species had been noted as an enemy of apple for some years before the time of AValsh's description. By 1866 it was common in the Hudson River country, at North Hempstead, Eong Island, in the Oneida commu- nity in New York State, at East Falmouth. Mass., ami probably in Vermont, and it occurred in Connecticut." called Mediterranean fruit fly, or Bermuda peach maggot, is widely distributed. Infesting a considerable variety of soft fruits, as oranges, peaches, plums. pineapples, and bananas, but fortunately lias not yet been introduced into the United States. In Europe Tephritis onoperdinis Fab. injures celery, and T. tryoni Froggatt seriously infests, in portions of Australia, bananas, peaches. oranges, etc., and another species of this genus {psidi Froggatt) in that country infests guaras. Trypeta musce Froggatt seriously injures bananas in the New Hebrides. Some Of these species are very general feeders, and the greatest care should be exercised, especially in the case of the Bermuda peach maggot, that they be not introduced into the United States. "First Kept. Acting State Ent. Illinois, pp. •JU-.V.l (1St;7). [Cir. 101 ] I,, L881 the apple maggol was reported by Professor Comstock from Ethaca. N. V., in apples, and was bred bj him from ( r Bj Washington, D. I , Profe *>rCook,< in 1884, received specimen* from Delavan, Wis,, where it was reported as doing verj great in- jury, and the year follow ing, the inseci was the cause ol considerable i in [ngham and adjoining counties in Michigan. ,„, i n L88 the additional localities of North Ashburn ham, Mass., Franklin and Schenectady, N. V., and Brandon, V*t. [1 introduction into Mail bated bj Professor Harvey, urred p r i or to L882, bj which time it had become well established, and bj 1899 occurred quite generally over the State, [ts occurrence al Mont- dair N. J., was recorded in L889 by Mr. E. Williams, in Garden and Forest, page 527, and this locality is also given for the apple maggol by Dr. J. B. Smith in his list of insects of New Jersey, page 687 I L899). . In 1894 Doctor Howard ' records the occurrence ol the apple mag- got from Waynesville, N. C.,and Doctor Fletcher records its Erst ap- pearance in Canada, Augusl 31,1896,in apples from Adolphustown, Ontario. As stated by Professor Lochhead," it had become quite in- jurious by 1902, more than one-half of the crop having been destroyed in some orchards in Prince Edward County. Professor Osbora,' , n the authority of Professor Hine, records its occurrence in uorth- western Ohio in L904, and states that injured fruit comes on the mar- ket al Columbus, though perhaps from outside of the Stair. Doctor Chittenden notes that the apple maggol was unusually injurious in Ohio in L903. By L905 the insect had extended it- range in C anada, as shown by the records of Doctor Fletcher of its occurrence al Como and St. Hilaire, Quebec The apple maggol is recorded from Minnesota by Professor Washburn, 1 and the records ol the Bureau ol Entomology show the additional localities of Dyberry, Pa,, and Douglas, Mich. Numerous records of this Bureau, as well as published accounts, show that the insed is generally distributed throughout the greater pari of the New England St ates, and thai il is a very destructive Kept. Ent. I . S. Dept Agric, 1881-82, p. 198. Rept. Mich. Hort 8. ird Ann. Rept. Ent Soc. Ont, i>. 87, 1002 (1003). Bui. W, 1 > i n . Ent I', S. Dept Agric, p s ^ (1904). earbook, C. S. Dept Agric. for 1903, p. 683. i Rept Ent. and Bot Exp. Farms of Canada for 1904, p. 238 (1906). *Bul. 93, Minn. Agric. Exp. sta.. p. 11 s (1906). [Clr. 101] enemy to apples. The flies do not spread rapidly, and hence individ- ual orchard- or certain varieties of apples may suffer severely, while those adjoining may be little injured. Although the pest was bred from haws, in L867, in Illinois, there has been but one record of its infesting apples in that State." FOOD PLANTS. The natural food of the apple maggot is wild haw (Crataegus), and probably several species are infested. It was bred from haws by Walsh in Illinois, by Cook in Illinois and Wisconsin, and by Comstock at Washington, D. C. Despite its supposed general occur- rence in the fruit of this plant, no further records of breeding from haws have been found, and Professor Harvey >tate> that it was not found in haws in Maine. During the past three years the Bureau of Entomology has collected or received fruit of Crataegus spp. from various parts of the country, but has not observed it to be infested with the apple maggot in any instance, and it appears quite doubtful if the distribution of the species is as general as is that of its native food plants. The early statements of the probable feeding of this species on crab- apple appear not to have been based on actual observations, and aside from Riley's record of its occurrence on crabs.'' no definite data have been presented to show that it infests this fruit. Professor Harvey thought it improbable that this fruit would be used, for the reason that it is quite green and hard during the period of flight and oviposition of the flies. The insect was found infesting plums and late cherries in northern Michigan, by Professor Cook/ in 1889, though no additional records of it- occurrence in these fruits have been seen. Of apples, sweet and subacid summer varieties are worst attacked, but fall and winter sorts are also infested, including distinctly acid varieties. Professor Harvey has prepared a list of apples showing their relative degree of infestation as observed by him in Maine during his careful study of the apple maggot.' 7 a Cordley. Orchard and Garden, 1889, p. 192. 6 Am. Agric, 1872, p. 263. c Second Ann. Rept. Mich. Agric. Exp. Sta., p. 153. d Loc. cit. [Cir. 101] I'orietlea o) applet known to be affected '"/ Rhagoleti* (Trypeta) pomonella.* nun Bub 4- \l.'\ i idi lutui tUtUI .1. do .1.. tutus - Do Baldu 1 Bough I ids Baldwin Badly Infested Do N|iuriiigly 1 Do Badl] (rated. Do. Do • Derby Pippin 1 Badly Infested. Full Jennrtlng A lit ll r Do Do Pall Pippin Sparing Do Pameuse lUtUl do Km k Badl] Infested. Do Golden Ball Golden Russel do Vutun Autumn . do Sparingly li Badly Intel Badl] Hlghto - + Hurlbul Badly Infested. Sparing Iri-ih Pi u Jewetl Red Summer Autumn Kins s-v . . i + Lad] S Maiden Blush Do Do Mother . Do Northern Spj Oldenbu lutui Sparingly In Badly Infested ' Pew aukee 1 ?) \ '1 1 11 r : Sunn \iitim - Porter - Sparingly In 1 Do. Bad! i Primate Ramsdell Bed Isl rai ban Ribston Sparingly Infested, ited. Kolf,. . Russell. . S Somerset in 9 Sops ol u • - Badly infested. Tetofskl + !>•.. + + Tompkl Sparingly Inti Twentj ■ ■■i -. .In '■ ■ Badl] Williams „ Wtnthrn Yellow \utumn tpr Do. • Names ive b.»'n eoneeted to agree with those givm In "M menclature of the Apple," by W. H. Regan Bur. Plant Industry, D The susceptibility to injury of the respective varieties mentioned, as observed in Maine, would not necessarily be true for other regions, bul the li-t will serve to -how that all classes of fruit arc subject to [Or. mil attack. As a general statement, it may be said that the insect will he most destructive to summer and fall varieties, or to those varieties which are ripe or are approaching maturity during the period of principal activity of the flies. HOW THE INSECT SPREADS. It is not known whether the apple maggot has spread from the New England States, where its injuries were first noticed, to the sev- eral localities where its presence has been observed — as in Ohio. Wis- consin, Michigan. North Carolina, etc. — or whether the insect, al- ready present on haws, simply turned its attention to apples. The former view, however, appears the more probable, and its spread would have been readily brought about by the introduction of in- fested apples. In regions where the insect occurs in apples, a con- siderable amount of infested fruit will be barreled, the larvae later deserting the fruit and forming puparia on the bottom of the barrel. In the ordinary course of commerce the insect would thus be intro- duced into new localities, often quite remote. In view of the extent of apple production in the territory which has long been infested with this species (i. e.. the New England States), and the consequent almost certain dissemination of the apple maggot to various parts of the country, it is cause for much surprise that the insect is not much more generally and widely established as an apple pest. It is very probable that the insect has been introduced into most of the apple- growing regions in the United States and also into those of Europe and the Colonies, but for some reason has not established itself. Thus the insect has been frequently found in apples on the markets in Washington, D. C.. though there is no evidence to indicate that it has become established in orchards in that vicinity. When once established in an orchard, its spread fortunately is usually very slow. It may confine its attack to a single tree, for two or three years, before spreading to adjacent trees of the same or other varieties equally subject to attack: and varieties seriously in- fested in one orchard may be exempt in another. The slowness of its spread from tree to tree and from one orchard to another has been commented upon by numerous workers. The flies in their habits are exceedingly local, apparently confining their attention to the trees upon which the previous generation devel- oped — in marked distinction to the spreading habits of many other insects. This habit is a very fortunate one for the fruit grower, and is of much practical importance in control, permitting great reduc- tion and possible extermination of the pests when infestation is lim- ited to but a few trees, and especially in localities but recently invaded. [Cir. 101] Dl -i RIP! hi\. Egg. The eggs oi the apple maggot are quite small, varying from 0.8 i" 0.9 linn, in Length l>y 0.2 to 0.25 nun. in width. Fusiform, and light yellow in color as taken From the Fruit. A short, broad pedicel, about one-twentieth the length of the egg, is Found at the broader end, which end is darker and pitted with irregular hexagonal cells with raised lacerated borders For about one-fourth the length of the egg. (See fig. 2, a.) Larva, The larva ifi!_ r . L, 6) is Footless, and when lull grown is From 7 to S nun. Long, with a width <>t' From L.75 to ■_' nun., yellowish- Pio. 2. — Rhagoletit pomonella : a, Egg; '-. bead of larva, showing chltlnous books framework wltbin tbe bead, and funnel-shaped spiracle; •, caudal spiracle; d oviposi- tor, with which eneath ^kin of apple, All greatly enlarged. (6, c, After Comstock ; « * 1 1 clo e examination, be detected bj the un- aided eye, and resembles the brownish rustj spots occurring normally on some varieties. These egg punctures tnaj be best observed, how ever, with a hand lens, and are then seen i" be oblong or circular hole-, with i li«' surrounding border brownish ;ini a! the moment n led be tor 'I in tight boxes or receptacles bo that any larva? deserting the fruit will be forced to pupate on 1 1 1 • - bottom of the container, where later they may he destroyed! When the drop fruit is not needed for the stock, it may be simplj thrown into a hole <>r hole- here and there in 1 1 * • - orchard, i<> be finally covered \\ iili 2 or '■'> feet of earth in 1 1 • « - late fall after frosts have occurred, i" prevent the «--<-: 1 1 f flies the following i on. The worh of gathering need not be begun until 1 1 » * - firsl ripe windfalls of the early varieties are found, but should 1"' kept up from thi> time until all the fruit has been harvested. Orchards may often be pastured with sheep, hogs, or cattle, in a way i" insure the destruction of the windfalls, and this practice is recommended as the cheapest and most satisfactory method i>t' deal- ing with the apple-maggot problem. Orchards may be permanently pastured or the stock turned in daily in sufficient numbers and ;it times to accomplish the desired consumption of the fallen fruit. This practice will be especially useful in commercial orchards, and, where infestation from adjacent orchards i- not great, will insure practically clean fruit. Plowing and cultivation of orchards would appear to i>e a useful practice in the control