184 



DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS. 



The adult insects, which resemble miniature mosquitoes 

 (Fig. 250 a), emerge from the soil beneath the trees early in the 

 spring when the blossom-buds are just bursting. Before the 

 blossoms get open, the little flies or midges insert their long 



FlO. 251. Work of the Pear Midge. Section of pear showing maggots at work, 

 enlarged ; an infested, misshapen fruit ; fruit from which the maggots have 

 emerged, natural size. 



ovipositor through the closed petals and calyx and lay a dozen 

 or more eggs on the anthers of the flowers. The eggs hatch 

 in four or five days, and the orange or reddish-colored maggots 

 (Fig. 250) enter the open ovary of the embryo fruit, where 

 they feed upon the growing tissues, usually destroying the 

 core and seeds and causing the young fruits to become dwarfed 

 and misshapen, as shown in Fig. 251. The maggots get their 

 growth about June ist and remain in the fruit until a rain or 



