REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST IQI/ II3 



by Schmidberger. A translation of his account has been given by 



Doctor Smith as follows : 



When the blossom buds of the pear tree were so far developed 

 that in the single blossoms a petal showed itself between the seg- 

 ments of the calyx, I found the first gall midge in the act of laying 

 its eggs in the blossom; this was on the 12th of April. It had fixed 

 itself almost perpendicularly in the middle of a single blossom, 

 and having pierced the petal through with its long ovipositor, it 

 laid its eggs on the anthers of the still closed blossom. The female 

 was about seven and a half minutes in laying her eggs. When she 

 had flown away, I cut the pierced bud in two, and found the eggs 

 lying in a heap one upon another on the anthers. They were white, 

 longish, one side pointed and transparent, and 10 to 12 in number. 

 I afterwards found several midges engaged in laying their eggs as 

 late as the i8th of April, from which day they ceased to appear in 

 the garden. I also saw a gall midge on the side of a blossom with its 

 ovipositor inserted in it, so that they do not merely pierce the petals 

 but the cah^x also. I even saw one, which having been somewhat 

 long in laying its eggs, could not draw out the ovipositor from the 

 blossom; the cause of which I conceived to be that the wound had 

 begun to close during the operation and the ovipositor was thereby 

 held. 



Schmidberger, according to Doctor Smith, states that the eggs 

 hatch quickly in warm weather, since on the fourth day after their 

 deposition he had found small larvae on the young fruit. They enter 

 near the calyx and before the blossom is expanded they descend to 

 the core so as not to be exposed to the rays of the sun. They separate 

 at this point and begin to devour the pear on all sides. The entrance 

 to the ovary or core of the young pear is wide open and there is, 

 therefore, no eating or piercing required on the part of the midge 

 larva. The young maggots develop rapidly as the fruit sets. They 

 are at first whitish, later changing to yellow or orange with maturity, 

 which usually occurs early in June. Rains coming at this time cause 

 the fruit to decay rapidly and crack, giving the maggots an oppor- 

 tunity to drop to the soil which they penetrate from one-half of an 

 inch to 2 inches and lie for some time unchanged. About midsummer 

 oval silken cocoons, covered with grains of sand, are exuded and the 

 maggots remain therein unchanged until early spring, the flies 

 appearing about the time the trees bloom. 



Description. The larva and pupa have been described by Doctor 

 Riley: 



"Larva. Length, 4 mm to 4.5 mm. Color pale yellow. Surface 

 polished and very faintly reticulated. Breastbone pale brownish, 

 its apex broadly bilobed. Body (13 joints and subjoint) fourteen 

 jointed, exclusive of the head. Antennae two jointed. Anal sub- 



