INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER AND ALFALFA 199 



long. Though known as the clover mite, on account of its feed- 

 ing upon that plant, yet this insect was first known as, and 

 is still, an important enemy of fruit-trees, more especially on the 

 Pacific coast, but also in other sections of the country. The most 

 injury seems to have been done to clover in the Central States as 

 far south as Tennessee, though it has suffered somewhat even 

 in the East. 



When attacked by the mite the leaves of clover or fruit- 

 trees become yellow and have a sickly appearance, as if affected 

 with a fungous disease. Especially upon the upper sides of the 

 tender leaves of clover the juices are extracted over irregular 

 areas, looking more or less like the burrows of some leaf-mining 

 larvae. Owing to the small size of the mites they may be doing 

 considerable damage to the foliage and yet remain unnoticed; 

 but in the egg stage the pest is much more readily detected and 

 attacked. In the more northern States the eggs are laid in the 

 fall, and do not hatch until the next spring. Farther south, 

 however, the adult mites hibernate over winter. The eggs are 

 of a reddish color, laid upon the bark of trees, especially in the 

 crotches, and in the West are sometimes so thickly placed as 

 to cover considerable areas two or three layers deep. 



When the adult mites leave the clover-fields in the fall to 

 find hibernating quarters upon fruit-trees for the winter, they 

 often become quite a nuisance by invading dwelling-houses 

 which are in their path. This is more particularly the case 

 throughout the Mississippi Valley. 



Remedies. The only practical way of protecting clover from 

 the mite is by destroying the eggs and hibernating mites upon 

 the fruit-trees in winter. This may be done by burning all the 

 prunings and thoroughly spraying the trees with kerosene emul- 

 sion diluted with five parts of water, or with miscible oils or 

 lime-sulfur mixture. Such a spraying will also protect the fruit- 

 trees from the mite, and will destroy numerous other insects, 

 such as the pear-leaf blister-mite, which hibernates upon the 

 trees. Such small insects, so minute as usually to escape notice, 

 are often responsible for a poor growth, and should be properly 

 checked whenever known to be injurious. 



