REPOET OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 113 



ous and wliitisli; tlie moth is quite small, and measures 0.40 to 0.60 of 

 an inch in expanse of wings, and is of a pale-gray color, with a few 

 blackish spots on the upper wings. Should this insect increase in num- 

 bers as much during the next year as it has done since the last, it 

 threatens to be a great scourge 'to peach- growers. The only way to de- 

 stroy them is to go around the peach-orchard in Moiy and June and cut 

 off such terminal shoots as appear to be withering or drying up, and 

 then biu-n them with the caterpillars inside. This at least would pre- 

 vent their multiplying to such an extent as to be very injurious at pres- 

 ent. When not so very numerous, they appear only to serve to some- 

 what prune the trees, as they take off merely the tips of the branches. 

 In May many leaves of the pear-tree were olDserved to be covered with 

 Fig.2, dark-brown blotches somewhat like a fungoid growth, but upon 

 examination by Mr. Taylor, microscopist of the Department, 

 these blotches were found to be inhabited by myriads of small 

 mites almost invisible to the naked eye. These mites appear to 

 run all over the leaves, but especial'lj^ to burrow in the brown 

 patches, which appear to be entirely eaten out by them. Their 

 bodies are long, cylindrical, yellowish white, with only two 

 pairs of legs, placed very far forward near the head, and they 

 move with considerable agility. They are also marked with a 

 multitude of rings, and have two long hairs or bristles and two 

 shorter ones on the end of the abdomen. There is a somewhat 

 similar mite mentioned by Packard as the Typlilodromns ])yri, of Sheuten, 

 which is said to live under the epidermis of pear-leaves in Europe, but 

 no mention is made of the brown blotches on the leaf, apparently formed 

 by the mite. In his figure also the head is much more obtuse than those 

 examined in the Department. A thorough drenching with whale-oil- 

 soap suds would doubtless destroy many of them, as their bodies appear 

 to be very soft. All infested leaves, likewise, should be immediately 

 removed and biuned as soon as discovered. 



Mr. Eichard H. Day, Baton Eouge, Louisiana, wrote to the Depart- 

 ment July 8, inclosing a specimen of a beetle that he had reared from 

 infested branches and fruit of the peach, and, according to his letter, 

 the entire leaves and fruit put up in the bottle were literally devoured 

 when he removed them. He also stated that the peach crop was rotting 

 badly before maturity, and asked if the insect could have connection in 

 any way with this condition of the crop. 



In a letter written August 19, however, he says that "although num- 

 bers of my trees show evidence of disease, it certainly cannot be traced 

 to the ravages of this insect." He further states that " the ravages of 

 the insects were first noticed last spring in going through the orchard 

 to prune." His attention was attracted by the great number of small 

 branches dead and dying since the spring's growth had started, and 

 upon tracing those branches down he invariably found in the branch at 

 the base of the leaf a puncture covered over with dried gum. Some- 

 times the puncture was so recent that only the first leaf above was dead 

 or dying, but death always followed the branch from the puncture up to 

 its extremity, and almost as invariably traveled down till it came to a 

 lateral branch, where the poison seemed to be arrested. It was observed 

 that these punctures were always either in the tender wood of the pre- 

 ceding fall's or present spring's growth. 



He examined many of the diseased branches with all possible care, 

 and though he was unable to find either insect or eggs, he was satisfied 

 that the injury could be traced to insects, and so a number of speci- 

 mens of twigs, or terminal shoots^ were forwarded to the Department 

 8 A 



