APPLE INSECTS — BORERS AND MISCELLANEOUS 207 



almond, raspberry and other fruits, and many forest trees 

 also. It is one of the principal enemies, of fruit-trees in the 

 far western orchard sections. These 

 mites have mouth parts fitted for pierc- 

 ing the tissues, and badly infested foli- 

 age assumes a blanched, yellowish, sickly 

 appearance. 



In warmer locali- 

 ties many of the 

 mites hibernate on 

 the bark or in other 

 sheltered locations, 

 but in northern re- 

 gions the winter is 

 passed in the egg 

 stage. Oftentimes 

 the bark of fruit- 

 trees, especially in 

 the crotches, is 

 covered in winter by 



thousands of the tiny, round, reddish eggs 

 (Fig. 193). The conspicuous, rusty, reddish 

 appearance given to the bark by the masses 

 of mite eggs often first leads to the dis- 

 covery of the pest. The eggs hatch early 

 in the spring and breeding continues through 

 several generations during the growing sea- 

 son. In autumn housewives are often much 

 annoyed by swarms of the mites coming 

 from near-by clover fields and seeking hi- 

 bernation quarters in the house. 



Fig. 192. — The clover- 

 mite. Redrawn after M. 

 A. Palmer (x 37). 



Fig. 193. — Eggs of 

 the clover-mite on a 

 twig. 



Reference 

 U. S. Bur. Ent. Circ. 158. 1912. 



