126 PEAR. 
Sunlight soap and water seems to do good, but not thoroughly destroy 
it.’—(F. B.) 
These specimens were also Pear and Cherry ‘‘ slugworms.” 
On July 17th I had letters from Mr. A. H. Lowe and Mr. J. H. 
Lowe, of, respectively, Court of Hill, and Greenwayhead, Tenbury, 
Worcestershire, regarding a very bad attack which had stripped a 
large Pear tree almost completely of its leafage in four days from the 
date of first observation, the leaves dying and drying in the usual 
manner, from the skin of the upper side being eaten off. Specimens 
were forwarded, both of the slugworms and the destroyed leaves, with 
mention that there appeared to be two of the grubs on every leaf 
examined. 
Shortly after (on July 25th) I had another communication from 
Mr. J. H. Lowe, in which he remarked :— 
“T find they have done a great deal more damage than I was 
aware of among my orchards. I had put down a great deal of their 
depredations to the very long and extreme drought which we are 
having in this immediate district.”—(J. H. L.) 
This observation of Mr. J. H. Lowe’s is well worth notice in 
connection with the remark made by Mr. Cameron (our chief writer 
on Sawflies*) as to weather influence on this infestation, ‘‘ The 
damage done by these ugly brutes to fruit trees is very often immense; 
especially is this the case in very dry seasons.’’ And also in the year 
1893, amongst observations sent me by Mr. R. Cresswell Ward, on 
June 19th, of damage done by this maggot at Neasham Hill, near 
Darlington, he mentioned, ‘‘ The heat is very intense; we all hope 
for rain.” 
I had also a note from Mr. Chas. 8. Hughes (gardener), 8, Back 
Street, Chepstow, Mon., accompanying some infested leaves sent from 
off a Morello Cherry tree, with the observation that last year was the 
first in which the attack appeared. ‘It is on the tree again this 
year’; and ‘‘I see some of my neighbours are troubled with the 
same.” The treatment applied had been use of Gishurst compound, 
and syringing with clean water. The specimens sent accompanying 
were in some instances full grown and black, and still covered with 
the sticky or slimy secretion, and others of them had turned to the 
yellowish tint which they acquire at the last moult. 
It would not be of interest to give more reports, for no new infor- 
mation has been gained, so far as 1am aware, since my notes given 
pp. 79-83 in my Annual Report for 1898, and everything we need to 
keep the attack in check is known; but though it was so prevalent 
last year, it seems to have been so rarely recognized, that a figure 
(p. 125) and a short description may be of use. 
* See ‘ British Phytophagous Hymenoptera,’ vol. i. p. 225. 
