I894-] 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



135 



the mites within the newly-formed buds. The old infested buds at this 

 date were every one of them carefully dried up. 



During the month of August I was, unfortunately, away from home, 

 and was not able to resume my investigations until September 13th. 

 At this date the new buds showed decided signs of being infested : 

 they were much swollen, and measured i\ to 3 lines in length, and 

 contained the pest in all its stages. I could not, however, find any of 

 the mites behind the leaf stalks as previously, so that I concluded 

 they had taken up their winter quarters for good, and had set to work 

 in earnest to ruin the crop of fruit while yet in the bud. 



Below I append a summary of my observations : — 



(1) That there were a succession of broods produced during the 

 months of February to September. Egg-laying taking place in March, 

 April, June, July, and September, which was therefore very probably 

 carried on throughout the whole season. 



(2) That one of the mites, i.e., the red one, was found wandering 

 about the flowers on the 22nd of March, and there might have been 

 others. 



(3) That the mites first established themselves between the base of 

 the leaf stalk and the young buds early in June (June 2), but were not 

 found actually inside them until July 27. 



(4) That so long as any life remained in the old buds swarms of the 

 mites were found in them ; as the buds died numbers of the mites dis- 

 appeared, either dying a natural death, or being destroyed by pre- 

 daceous insects. Of course, as I have already stated, some of them did 

 certainly migrate and set up fresh colonies. 



Let us now consider these facts from a practical point of view, 

 taking first of all the period during which the mites travel from bud to 

 bud. This, as already stated, takes place in March, and I may here 

 add, in corroboration of this, that mites were also detected in the act of 

 travelling from one bud to another in the spring by the writer of the 

 pamphlet issued by the Board of Agriculture (I.e.). How long the 

 mites continue their migrations has yet to be proved, but I am con- 

 fident that it takes place during spring and summer, or, at any rate, so 

 long as any mites remain in the old buds ; hence, if we wish to apply 

 any insecticide as a remedy, it should certainly be applied at the period 

 of migration ; but as this extends over an indefinite period, it is difficult 

 to fix a time when spraying would be most effectual. March would 

 appear the best time for an application, but spraying at this time would 

 be sure to injure the flowers, therefore, the application should be made 

 between the time of the setting of the fruit and the beginning of July. 

 Spraying at such time would be sure to affect some of the mites, 

 although I doubt very much if it would render any real service in 

 clearing them off. 



