7/2 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
the terminal part of tibia brown; terminal part and tibia and tarsi 
yellow, a double row of twelve strong spines on the inner side of 
hind tibia, several inconspicuous spines on fore and middle pairs. 
Abdomen about two and one-half times as long as width of meso- 
thorax, cylindrical to eighth segment, then abruptly pointed. Spines 
on sides and around tip “of abdomen dark brown, conspicuous ; those 
on last two segments are long and approximately equal. Color of 
abdomen dark brown, connective tissue yellow. 
The young closely resemble the adult structurally, though there 
is a variation in size, and this stage is also characterized by the 
absence of wings. 
Life history. Investigations on both sides of the continent show 
that this pest winters in the soil, appearing upon the trees as the 
young leaves push from the buds, and feeds by preference upon the 
more tender and essential parts of the fruit buds. The slender, 
dark brown thrips may be found crawling between the partly opened 
leaves and working their way to the base of clusters of fruit buds. 
This habit of sheltering themselves among the growing tissues ma- 
terially lessens the efficacy of spray applications. Buds thickly in- 
fested with thrips become sticky, the blossom buds assume a brown, 
blasted appearance, the bud scales drop in unusual numbers, while 
affected blossom clusters gradually shrivel and fall. The stems of 
the young fruits are also injured, frequently resulting in an early 
dropping. The affected leaves are small, more or less crinkled, and 
with a characteristic spoon-shaped development. This condition may 
be true of extended areas, limited to a few trees here and there in 
an orchard, or confined to portions of trees and, in the latter in- 
stance, result in a very uneven setting of fruit (see plates 1, 2). 
The microscopic eggs are deposited in minute slits in leaf and 
blossom stems. The whitish, red-eyed young soon appear and feed 
like the darker parents, on the tender leaves for about two weeks, 
drop to the ground and remain in the soil unchanged till fall. The 
insects produce small wounds on the foliage, the affected tissues 
drop out or break and seriously injured leaves are, as a consequence, 
badly perforated and quite ragged in appearance. 
Food plants. This minute enemy attacks a variety of deciduous 
fruits, having been recorded from apple, apricot, cherry, fig, grape, 
peach, pear, plum, prune, quince and the English walnut. The prin- 
cipal damage, as indicated by the common name, is to the pear. 
Distribution. This insect was first discovered in California, has 
been recorded from a number of localities in the Hudson valley and 
at Geneva, and also reported from England. Its minute size and 
