No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 153 



pairs are far to the rear, appparently on the abdominal region. The 

 larvae as in other mites are minus the hind pair of legs. In the adults 

 the hind pair of legs have slender bases which exterminate in slender 

 whip-like pairs in place of a tarsus. The other legs terminate in 

 anchor-like bidactyle clams on a pedicel, and between the claws is 

 a small pad. The head projects with a proboscis like a hog snout. 

 The mouth parts are apparentlj^ much consolidated or possibly 

 aborted and they may feed by puncturing or rasping the tissue and 

 sucking. 



They are very active, rapid crawlers enabling them to migrate 

 rapidly from bud to bud. They may spread by means of the wind 

 and by team and man in culture. 



HISTORY LAST SEASON 



They evidently began feeding and breeding early in the spring. 

 Some of the buds of budded trees, although having formed again, 

 failed to grow, and of those that made a start, some were stopped. 

 Branches followed which again were stopped. The extent of this 

 stopping was evidently according to the activity of the mites and 

 seemed to be a battle between growth and mites, and those who 

 saw one of these battlefields at least would have little trouble in 

 determining which was the victor. Their work continued until late 

 in the season, but with reduced activity after the heavy fall rains 

 began. 



It is known that the ravages of mites or certain species of them 

 are governed by weather conditions favoring or checking their in- 

 crease. The hot, dry season such as we had last year is favorable to 

 their multiplication and will account in part for the unusual damage 

 in extensive peach nurseries. 



Some of the mites are to be found in the dead buds or terminal 

 injured twigs as late as December 26, indicating that they winter 

 there. Whether or not they may also winter elsewhere has not been 

 determined. 



There is little known of this species of mite. It is said to be un- 

 named and undescribed excepting that Prof. M, B. Waite, Plant 

 Pathologist of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C, 

 who found it several years ago burrowing in the tender tips of the 

 terminal buds of peach shoots, called it the "Peach Shoot Mite," and 

 Prof. Banks is reported as saying that it belonged to the genus Tar- 

 sonemus ("Thread footed"). 



Prof. W^ashburton, in his classification of the Acarina or mites, 

 says of the family Tarsonemidae, "It is composed of a number of 

 minute vegetable feeding mites which have been little studied, though 

 they are probably the cause of considerable injury to the leaves 

 and buds of plants." As specialists are now" at work on the study of 

 this little pest we may expect soon to have a technical name and 

 description for it. It may, however, take a longer time to learn fully 

 its life history. It has been said that "the life history of a mite seems 

 a trivial matter, but it takes much labor to unravel, yet we must 

 know if with its vagaries to enable us to attack it as the most 

 vulnerable point if we hope to succeed in its control." This mite has 

 been reported in the buds of ash, pear, plum and perhaps some other 

 varieties. 



