642 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



The Pear Slug * 



Not infrequently the foliage of pear and cherry, and occasionally 

 of plum, trees turns brown in midsummer, which is found to be due 

 to small, slimy, slug-like larvae which have eaten off the surfaces 

 of the leaves. The Pear Slug is a common pest throughout the 

 country, having been known here for over a century. It is an 

 old European pest and has become distributed to many of the 



FIG. 496. The pear slug (Eriocampoides limacina Retz.): a, adult female 

 saw-fly; b, larva with slime removed; c, same in normal state; d, leaves 

 with larvae natural size; a, b, c, much enlarged. (After Marlatt, 

 U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



British colonies in various parts of the world. The parent insect 

 is a small saw-fly, about one-fifth inch long, glossy black, with 

 four wings which are iridescent, with a smoky band across the 

 middle, and which are folded over the back when at rest. 



Life History. The flies are abroad by the time the foliage is 

 well out, by the middle of April in Maryland and late May or early 

 June in New England. Like most of the saw-flies the female is 

 furnished with a strong ovipositor with saw-like teeth at the 



* Eriocampoides limacina Retzius. Family Tenthredinidce. See C. L. 

 Marlatt, Circular 26, Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr. 



