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PEAR INSECTS. 243 
sooty, with the veins, fore margin, and stigma, black ; the legs are dusky black, varied "with yellowish. 
It measures about one fifth of a line in length, and fi-om five to five and a-half lines in the expansion 
of the fore wings. The eggs of this insect have not been observed. The larvae, when full grown, are 
nearly half an inch long, with the body rather thickened towards the head, the anterior segments 
being capable of inflation over the head, so that the insect, whilst feeding, somewhat resembles a 
minute tadpole. It casts its skin several times, immediately after wliich it appears of a fleshy consis- 
tence, and with a transversely -nTinkled surface. It is furnished with ten pairs of legs, the extremity 
of the body not being provided with a pan-, as are the catei'pLllars of moths. It soon covers itself again 
with the -idscid matter above mentioned, which is of a peculiar natm-e, as it does not dry when exposed 
to the hottest sun, and which appeal's to exude fi'om the articulations of the bodj', since, on rubbing 
it off, the insect swells itself out at the joints, and shortly afterwards a fresh secretion is seen to take 
place. After casting its penultimate larva skin, the power of secreting this hquid appears to be lost, 
and the body assumes a clay colour'. Wlien full grown, the larvaj fall to the ground, in wliich they 
buiy themselves, and there form small oval cases, covered with particles of earth, within which they 
pass the winter, and undergo their transformations. Notwithstanding the observations of Mr. J. Fox 
to the contrary, I would recommend repeated powdering the leaves -n-ith quick lime, as originally pro- 
posed by jNIr. Major. Probably syi'inging the leaves with gas-tar water would be stiU more effica- 
cious. 
Fig. IV. Aegtromyges scitella. — This beautiful Uttle insect belongs to the order Lcpidoptera, and 
family Tineida;. It measm'es about a quarter of an inch in the expansion of the fore wings, which are 
of a glossy silvery white colour, the terminal portion being orange -nath white fi-inge, but varied on 
the fore margin near the tip with two white triangular spots, edged with black lines, and with a tri- 
dent-like black mark at the ti^i, and with the inner margin terminated by a black spot glossed mth 
purple ; the hind wings are silvery white, with long fiinge. The history of this species, (under the 
name of Tinea Clerckella), was first made known by the late Mr. Knight, in the Horticultural Trans- 
actions. The perfect insect generally appears at the end of May, when the female deposits her eggs 
on the under surface of the leaves, the young lai'vce penetrating the under cuticle, and feeding on the 
parenchyma, leaving the two surfaces of the leaf untouched, and thus forming large oval or rounded 
patches, several of which often unite together, and thus the greater part of the leaf assumes a bhstered 
appearance. Mr. Johnson states that the Chaumontelle is especially subject to the attacks of this 
larva, as he had observed a standard tree of this variety annually attacked, whilst a Swan's Egg, and 
an Easter Bergamot in the immediate vicinity were comparatively untouched. It is at the beginning 
of the auttmin that the leaves ai'e observed to be most affected by tlie ravages of these larvte, which 
are fleshy, yellowish-white, hau-y, and with six pectoral, eight abdominal, and two anal feet depressed. 
"V\Tien full grown the larva pierces the upper cuticle of the leaf, and conies into the open au-, it then 
spins some longitudinal threads close together on the upper side of the leaf, and beneath these forms 
its cocoon, which Mr. Curtis describes as boat-shaped, with the keel ujiwards of a very close texture, 
and with a sht at each end, the cast off' larva skin being thrust through one of these slits, and the 
Moth escaping by the other. Sometimes these insects abound to such an extent as seriously to affect 
the growth of the trees, and the size and flavom- of the fi-uit ; indeed, Mr. Knight's Pear trees were 
so much inj ared that he at one time resolved to remove them. 
The chief remedy for preventing the mischief caused by this species seems to be the picking off' the 
blistered leaves before the larvfe have left them, or by sharply pinching with the fingers the blistered 
parts, in the case of small and valuable ti'ees. The collecting, also, of fallen leaves at the close of 
the autumn is serviceable, as the chrysalides -will thus be destroyed, and the propagation of the 
species in the folloTving spring prevented. 
Fig. V. PiEDlSCA ANGUSTIOEANA. — This species belongs to the order Lcpidoptera, and family Tor- 
tricidtt;. It varies from 5 to 8 lines in the expanse of the fore wings, the males being the smallest and 
darker coloui-ed than the females, the colours vai-ying fi-om dusky brown or blackish brown to brick 
red with darker patches and oblique clouds, and ■vvith a large pale oblique blotch on the fore margm 
beyond the middle. The male is similarly clouded, and marked with nearly black coloiu' ; the hind 
wings are uniform brown. It is a common species throughout the south of England ; its larva feeding 
upon the leaves of various trees. Thus I have observed it especially injurious to the young shoots and 
leaves of the Apricot in my garden at Hammersmith, in the early spring; it also feeds on the buds of the 
Fir, as well as on Whitethorn, Oak, and Privet. My object, however, in introducing it uito the present 
article is to notice its connection, at least occasionally with the Pear, as described by jNIessrs. Cm-tis and 
Graham, in the Gardeners' Cltronicle of the present year. In the month of January the latter gentleman 
communicated two Pears to the former, the crowns of which had " a large brown patch surrounding the 
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