THE PBAR THRIPS. 



thrips display their preference for certain flower parts; in cherries and 

 })runes, the tips of the petals and the stigma and style are the parts 

 that suffer. 



The feeding of thrips in leaf buds and on tender foliage is almost as 

 disastrous as when they, attack blossoms. In many cases where trees 

 have suffered injury for three or four days it takes several months for 

 them to again put forth new buds and foliage and to again assume 

 their natural growth, and then often they appear sickly for the entire 

 year. The rapidity 

 with which whole or- 

 chards have been in- 

 jured marks this as 

 one of the worst pests 

 which we have ever 

 had to fight. 



The insect is known 

 to feed on the follow- 

 ing plants, and it is 

 probable that even 

 this list is not com- 

 plete: Apricot (sev- 

 eral varieties), apple, 

 almond, cherry, fig, 

 grape, pear (Doyenne 

 du Cornice and Bart- 

 lett preferred), prune 

 (Imperial preferred), plum, walnut (English), and peach (Muir and 

 Clings (Nichols) preferred). As mentioned, the insect gives preference 

 to certain varieties of prunes, peaches, and pears, and of the other 

 fruits all seem to be affected alike. The Imperial prune is espe- 

 cially susceptible to the attacks of thrips. Last year it was generally 

 known that the thrips could absolutely clean an orchard of its fruit. 

 This year, when the insects began to appear, of course every one was 

 alarmed, fearing that wherever a few thrips were present more would 

 appear and all orchardists would suffer the same damage which a few 

 had experienced the year before. This overanxiety was stimulated 

 also by the lack of knowledge on this particular thrips. No one seemed 

 to know where it came from, how many broods there were, how long it 

 would feed, or where it would go at the end of the season. 



It is impossible to estimate the loss caused by thrips during the 

 season of 1904, though we know of a number of orchards where the crop 

 was a complete failure. This year, while the injury is very serious, we 

 are again unable even to estimate the loss. The insect is much more 

 widespread, but during the last blossom season there occurred unusu- 



FiG. 4. Black Tartarian cherries, showing dead blossoms, 

 the work of mature thrips; and deformed leaves, the 

 effect of the feeding of young thrips. 



