THE PLAR THRIP5. 



(Luthrips pyri.) 



During the months of February, March, and April, if one were to 

 examine closely the branches of many of. the fruit trees in the Santa 

 Clara Valley, he would find numerous brown insects, about one 

 twentieth of an inch long, hidden within the buds, blossoms, or leaves, 

 and if these are disturbed by being shaken out over one's hand, they 

 suddenly become active, raise up the tip of the abdomen, and lifting 

 and disentangling their wings, fly away. They are so small and their 

 wings so transparent, that unless one watches very closely they dis- 

 appear even before one's eyes. 

 Such, in brief, is the thrips pest of 

 our orchards — a rather attractive 

 and for many reasons a very in- 

 teresting insect. 



The pear thrips was described in 

 "Entomological News" for Novem- 

 ber, 1904, by Miss D. M. Daniel, of 

 the University of California. Her 

 type specimens were taken from 

 pear blossoms near San Leandro, 

 Alameda County, hence the name 

 "pyri," the pear thrips. Miss 

 Daniel's original description is as 

 follows (see Fig. 1): 



Female. — Length, 1.26 mm. ; width o{ mesothorax, .32 mm. ; general color, dark 

 brown. Head about as long as broad ; cheeks convexed ; anterior margin broad, acutely 

 angular; back of head transversely wrinkled, and bearing a few minute spines. Eyes 

 medium, black with light borders, rounded or oval in outline, coarsely faceted, hairy. 

 Ocelli yellow, margined inwardly with reddish-brown crescents, widely separated, 

 posterior ones contiguous, with light borders around eyes ; one very long, slender spine 

 on each side midway between ocelli. Mouth-cone pointed, tipped \yith black ; maxillary 

 palpi 3-segmented. Antennse 8-segmented, approximate, slightly over twice the length 

 of head. Length of segments : 33, 43, 55, 52, 35, 50, 8, 10. Antennae brown, except seg- 

 ment three, which is yellow. Spines pale, conspicuous, special sense organs on segments 

 three and four. 



Prothorax longer and wider than head ; bears many prominent spines, the one at 

 each anterior angle and the two at each posterior angle are longest. Color, yellow- 

 brown ; faintly cross-striated. 



Mesothorax approximately as ylde as antennse are long; front angles obtusely 

 rounded; metanotal plate bears four spines close to front edge, middle pair equal in 



Fig. 1. Pear Tliripa, greatly enlarged. 

 (Original.) 



