56 THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Pear—continued. 
from the soil up the tree, by a belt of sticky material 
round the tree-trunk. If the tree is trained, the wall; 
or the support, should also have a belt of the same 
substance. The larve of the butterflies, and of the 
larger moths, should be picked off and destroyed. The 
larve of the Tortrices and Geometers. may be either 
picked off or shaken into an old sheet, or other cloth, 
and should be swept up and destroyed at once. Leaf- 
miners can be killed by pressure with finger and thumb, 
but the harm done by them is, as a rule, too 
slight to render this labour necessary. Certain 
Sawflies are very hurtful to fruit-trees, and, 
among others, to the Pear-tree. The worst of 
these foes is the Slngworm, or larva of Erio- 
campa limacina. For an account of the injuries 
done by it, and remedies, see Slugworms. 
Mr. Buckton, in his Monograph of British 
Aphides,” mentions Aphis pyraria and A. lenti- 
ginis as obtained by him from Pear-trees in 
, and says that the former was so 
abundant on one tree as to entirely cover it with 
excretions. Other kinds have been recorded 
by various entomologists. All the Aphides may 
be treated in the same way. See Aphides. 
To the allied genus Psylla belong several spe- 
cies that feed on the Pear, and the following 
have been recorded from Britain: P. pyri- 
suga, Först., P. apiophila, P. pyricola, and 
P. simulans. 
Fig. 58. PSYLLA PYRISUGA (the Line below the 
Insect shows the natural length). 
Of these, P. pyrisuga (see Fig. 58) is probably 
the most hurtful. In Ormerod’s Manual,“ 
it is named P. Pyri, Schmidb., and is also 
called the Pear Sucker. The female is in. 
long, and is not very unlike a Frog Hopper 
in form; but the wings are transparent. It is able to 
leap considerable distances, by means of the large thighs 
of the hindmost pair of legs. It is usually at first of a 
greenish colour, with red eyes; but it becomes, in a 
short time, variegated with carmine-red, brown, and 
black, and these colours extend to the base of the 
wings, and to the legs. The insects live on juices of 
the plants they infest, drawing them in through a beak, 
which, when at rest, lies close against the breast. The 
Fig. 59. LARVA OF PSYLLA PYRISUGA (the Line shows the 
natural length). 
male is about win. long. The larve (see Fig. 59) and 
pupe, as well as the mature insects, live upon Pear. trees, 
and, occasionally, upon Apple-trees also. They suck the 
juices from the leaves, and from the young shoots, and dis- 
charge their sticky excretions over all parts of the trees. 
They are thus hurtful both by withdrawing the sap, and 
by clogging the surfaces of leaves and twigs, so that 
these parts are unable to assist in nourishing the plant. 
The mature insects usually pass the winter sheltered in 
crevices under bark, &c. A remedy found serviceable 
is to apply tobacco infusion, soapsuds, or the other solu- 
tions employed against Aphides (which see). 
Pear leaves are sometimes severely injured by Gall 
Pear continued. 
Mites, which give rise to blistered spots in them (see 
Fig. 60). 
or red; but, in a short time, they tend to become 
brown, and then they dry up, and fall out of the 
leaf, if pressed on, while the rest of the leaf may still 
be apparently healthy. Very often, the blisters are so 
numerous that many of them unite, and the leaf may 
become covered with them over almost the whole sur- 
face. In severe cases, almost every leaf on a tree may 
FIG. 60. PEAR-LEAF ATTACKED BY PHYTOPTUS PYRI—a, Leaf recently 
attacked by Mites; b, Leaf with old Mite Galls. 
be more or less injured, and many of them destroyed, 
so that the trees are much weakened. Moreover, the 
animals shelter themselves in the buds in winter, and 
a tree, when once infected, continues to suffer year 
after year. A microscopic examination of a section taken 
FIG. 61. BLISTER FORMED ON LEAF BY PHYTOPTUS PYRI — 
a, Opening of Gall; p, Tissue of Leaf altered by Mites; 
e, Egg of Mite. 
from a blister (see Fig. 61) shows that the cells in the 
middle of the leaf become torn asunder, so as to leave 
air-spaces larger than before; and the surfaces of the 
leaf are thus pushed farther apart. In the middle of the 
blister, on its lower surface, is a small opening, which 
permits the Mites to pass out of the blister. These 
animals are named Phytoptus Pyri. See Mites. 
It is so difficult to completely effect a remedy, that it 
is not advisable to give the labour, save in the case of | 
trees of peculiar value; and it is preferable to burn the 
diseased trees, to prevent the evil spreading. To destroy 
the Mites, the most successful course is, at the moment 
These blisters are small, and, at first, yellowish 
