The Effect of Sublethal Dosages of Tartar Emetic on the Mexican Fruitfly1

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Abstract
Mexican fruitflies, Anastrepha ludens, were exposed to diets of (1) 20 lb. sucrose in 100 gal. soln., (2) No. 1 with 0.25 lb. casein, (3) No. 2 with 1 oz. tartar emetic, and (4) No. 2 with 0.5 oz. tartar emetic. Flies ingesting diets with tartar emetic laid fewer eggs than flies not given that material. Flies exposed to diet No. 3 for 21 days failed to lay any eggs for 45 days. Flies exposed to diet No. 4 laid few eggs, some viable. The % hatch was lower but the % collapsed eggs was higher when tartar emetic was included in the diet. The addition of casein to the sugar diet had little or no effect on the number and viability of eggs deposited. Essentially similar results were obtained in a 2d expt. when either 0.25 or 0.125 oz. tartar emetic was added to sugar and casein although the reduction in number of eggs deposited was not so marked as with the diet containing 1 oz. tartar emetic. The ingestion of small amts. of tartar emetic by flies might be a factor in the general reduction of the fly population in the vicinity of Hacienda de Santa Engracia, Tamaulipas, Mexico, from 1936 to 1942.

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