DISEASES OF THE PEAR TREE ] 24*7 



larva is easily reached through the opening by means 

 of a bit of wire hooked at the end, and thrust upwards 

 until it meets the soft body of the grub at the end 

 of the tunnel. 



Other lepidoptera are not infrequently found on 

 the pear in these Islands, but the injury caused by 

 them is so slight that it generally passes unnoticed'. 

 Thus, the larva of Nephopteryx spissicella Fb. folds up 

 the leaf along the midrib and lives on the tissues 

 forming the tube where it undergoes its metamorphosis. 

 The larva of Acrobasis obtusella Hb. lives on the 

 tissues of the leaf which it folds irregularly. The growing 

 twigs are sometimes corroded or eaten, some way below 

 the growing end, by the reddish grey black-headed 

 larva of Grnpholitha oce liana Schiff. The greyish blue 

 larva of Hibernia defoltaria Cl. with red spots on its 

 back and a yellow line on each side eat the young 

 leaves as well as the blossoms. 



Besides these a legion of small moths work havoc 

 in the pear and apple orchards of Europe and North 

 America, but so far have not been seen yet on our 

 trees. The grub of Cossus ligniperda Fb. tunnels into 

 the wood of the pear, the apple and other fruit trees. 

 When young the larva is of a dirty pink colour, covered 

 with long hairs; when fully grown it is about 9 c.m. 

 in length yellowish pink, dark almost black on the back, 

 and bites and ejects from its mouth a caustic liquid. 

 Its tunnels run irregularly, but usually along the length 

 of the stem, having a round opening on the bark, 

 through which the excrements and wood dust are thrown 

 out. The winged insect is 3^ to 4 c.m. in length; the 

 anterior wings are ash -coloured shaded or spotted brown, 

 the body is grey with broad whitish lines along the 

 segments; the antennae are jointed, the joints being 

 flat up to the apex, and the posterior tibiae have two 

 pairs of spines. This Js a, dangerous insect and the 

 infested tree often succumbs when there are two or more 

 larvae living in the same stem. 



