ing from the end of the abdomen. These flies appear in the 

 pear orchard in early spring, even before the blossoms open, 

 and continue present about ten days. As soon as the blossoms 

 open sufficiently for the insect to insert its ovipositor, the eggs 

 — often nearly a dozen in number^are deposited inside the 

 blossom envelopes. Three or four days later the eggs hatch 

 into little maggots which enter the open ovary of the embryo 

 fruit, where they feed upon the growing tissues, gnawing and 

 rasping it in such a manner as to destroy the core and seeds, 

 and cause the fruits to become dwarfed and deformed. Such 

 pears are illshapen in outer appearance, as shown in the series 

 represented in Fig. i. The midge maggots at first are whitish 

 in color, but they soon become orange or reddish. They 

 become full-grown early in summer: they are then "about one- 



Fig. 2. Pear Midge: a, larva; /', pupa; c, parent fly. Magnified. 



sixth of an inch in length, pointed towards each extremity, yel- 

 low in color, with a brown, horny breast bone on the under side 

 just behind the head. The segments of the body are well- 

 marked, and when removed from the infested fruit they move 

 about quite rapidly, bending themselves quite double by draw- 

 ing the tail forward until it touches the head, and then jerking 

 or springing upward and outward several inches at a time. 



