i86 



THE PEAR MIDGE. 

 (Diplosis pyrivora, Riley. Cecidomyia nigra, Meigen.) 



I. Pear stunted and malformed by the larvae within it. 2. Section of pear with 

 larvae. 3. Larva, much magnified. 4. Female fly, much magnified. Lines showing 

 natural length of fly and larva. - 



The injury caused by this insect is gradually increasing, 

 and has been very serious this year in various places, 

 reducing the crop of pears, which was already short on 

 account of the unfavourable weather at the time of the 

 " setting " of the fruit. ^Some pear growers seeing the 

 young pears falling fast in June, when they are about the 

 size of marbles, think that this drop is due to an unhealthy 

 condition of the tree, or to influences of weather, but it is 

 more often due to the insidious and dangerous action of the 

 tiny pear midge, the presence of which is far more common 

 than is usually believed. But this mischievous insect 

 is becoming more generally known, and there have never 

 been so many complaints concerning it in any previous 

 season. In most instances the cause of the disorder 

 was recognised, and remedies and modes of prevention only 

 were asked for. In a few cases, where all the larvae had left 



