807 
No. 145.j 
apples, plums, and other fruits wither and fall from our trees, 
often literally covering the ground beneath them. Young apples 
are thus blasted in consequence 1 of the punctures and wounds 
which they receive from the Apple worm or Codling moth, the 
Plum weevil, and other insects. Among these destroyers is one 
which has hitherto escaped notice, more in consequence of its 
minute size, probably, than its rarity; for we suspect it will 
prove to be a common insect. 
In the month of August several apples were noticed upon the 
trees which were small, withered, and ready to fall, yet without 
any of those worms in them which occasion the destruction of so 
much fruit at this season of the year. On searching for the cause 
of this withering of these apples we found a small 
cavity or little hollow at the tip end, commonly close 
beside the relics of the flow’er. This cavity had the 
’ appearance of having been gnawed; it w r as about the 
size of a pea, and its surface of a black color. Several 
of these cavities were occupied by a minute slender 
insect; and from appearance I inferred that the young of these 
insects had taken up their residence upon the apples whilst they 
were quite small, and by wmunding them slightly day after day, 
had retarded their growth and finally caused them to wkher. It 
is possible that some other insect had originally produced these 
wounds, and that these which were now there had been attracted 
to the wounds to suck their juices; but every appearance indica- 
cated that these were the real culprits. They pertain to the 
group Tiiuipsidte, which is composed almost entirely of minute 
species like the present, which subsist upon the juices of plants, 
especially melons, cucumbers, beans, &c., to which they are often 
quite injurious, producing small decayed spots upon the leaves. 
They also occur in numbers upon different flowers. We have 
several American species of these insects, none of which have yet 
been studied out and described. This which occurs in w r ounded 
spots upon young apples, appears to pertain to the genus named 
Pklceothrips by Mr. Haliday, and I propose for it the specific name 
Muli, or the Apple Thrips. 
