66 



The midge appears in April, and is seen until the middle of May. 

 The female lays its eggs, which are long and transparent white, both in 

 the unopened and expanded flowers, by means of its ovipositor. When 

 the blossom is unopened, it pierces the petals and deposits the eggs in 

 little heaps on the anthers, but when the blossom is expanded it 

 pushes its ovipositor deep into the pistil or ovary. In about six days 

 the eggs hatch and the young larvae make their way into the develop- 

 ing fruit. 



The larvae are mature in early June, and have left the fruit (this, 

 however, depends on the weather), by means of a cleft in the fruit or 

 by some decayed patch. The larvae generally escape from the fruit 

 when it is still hanging, but not always. The larvae can skip, 

 characteristic of the Diplosis, by bending their bodies forward, fifteen 

 to twenty generally being seen on a fruit. Springing from the fruit 

 to the ground, they bury themselves two inches below the surface. 

 By the end of two weeks they have made little papery cocoons of a 

 dirty creamy silk, being one-tenth of an inch long. They pupate either 

 a few weeks after entering the soil or in the early spring. 



About a fortnight after the attack has started the fruitlets begin to 

 swell abnormally, growing much more rapidly than the sound, on 

 account of the irritation set up by the female's ovipositor. 



The fruits, in time, become distorted and contain the larvse; a 

 fruit thus seen to be distorted should always be cut open to see if there 

 are any larvae present, because the fruits can become distorted without 

 having been attacked by this pest. 



Insecticides. — All infected fruits should be collected and burnt, as 

 they contain the larvae. 



Top dress in late summer with kainit, half a ton to the acre, to 

 prevent the larvae pupating in the soil. 



Inject carbon bisulphide into the soil at the end of March to kill the 

 insects just coming from the pupal stage. 



The other insects that attack the pear tree have been mentioned 

 under the heading of " Insects attacking the Apple Tree." 



Some of the other insects are : — 



1. Large Tortoiseshell Butterfly, Vanessa poly- 



'^^^°^°^ Order Lepidoptera 



2. Mottled Umber Moth, Hybernia defoliaria 



3. Common Tortrix Moth, Tortrix ribeana . 



4. Wood Leopard Moth, Zeuzera aesculi 



5. Goat Moth, Cossus ligniperda ... 



6. Gold Tail Moth, Porthesia similis 



7. Lappet Moth, Lasiocampa quercifolia 



8. Scalloped Hazel Moth, Odontopera bidentata 

 g. Maxch Moth, Anisopteryx aescularia 



10. Green Pug Moth, Chloroclysiis rectangulata . 



11. Pear Thrips, Euthrips pyri ...'', Thysan'optera- 



