• Pear fruitlets with pear midge will turn black and fall from the tree
• Affected pear fruitlets initially grow faster and are softer than healthy fruitlets but during May they begin to turn black at the eye end of the fruit (opposite end to the stalk)
• The black colour spreads up the fruitlet and it drops off in June
• A high proportion of the potential crop can be lost
• Inside the damaged fruitlets are many orange white maggots, up to 4mm in length

Monitor pear fruit development for midge damage throughout spring. If the midge has been a problem in previous seasons decide if control measures are likely to be needed at the beginning of the season. When choosing control options you can minimise harm to non-target animals by starting with the methods in the non-pesticide control section. If this is not sufficient to reduce the damage to acceptable levels then you may choose to use pesticides. Within this group the shorter persistence pesticides (that are usually certified for organic growing) are likely to be less damaging to non-target wildlife than those with longer persistence and/or systemic action.

Non-pesticide control

• Look for affected fruitlets and remove them before the larvae complete their feeding and enter the soil to pupate
• The midge larvae enter the soil when fully grown, where possible hoeing the soil around the base of the tree during dry weather in June and July, may reduce survival of the pupae
• Severity of damage varies from year to year, in some years very few pears will be affected in others a majority of the crop can be lost. It may be possible to tolerate some crop losses
• Encourage predators and other natural enemies in the garden such as birds, hedgehogs and ground beetles

Pesticide control

The RHS believes that avoiding pests, diseases and weeds by good practice in cultivation methods, cultivar selection, garden hygiene and encouraging or introducing natural enemies, should be the first line of control. If chemical controls are used, they should be used only in a minimal and highly targeted manner.

• Organic sprays, such as natural pyrethrum (e.g. Bug Clear Ultra, Neudorff Bug Free Bug and Larvae Killer), fatty acids (e.g. Doff Greenfly & Blackfly Killer) or plant oils (e.g. Vitax Plant Guard Pest & Disease Control) These pesticides have a very short persistence and so may require reapplication to keep pear fruit midge numbers in check. Plant oil and fatty acid products are less likely to affect larger insects such as ladybird adults
• More persistent contact-action insecticides include the synthetic pyrethroids lambda-cyhalothrin (e.g. Westland Resolva Bug Killer), deltamethrin (e.g. Provanto Ultimate Fruit & Vegetable Bug Killer, Provanto Sprayday Greenfly Killer)

Download

Pesticides for gardeners (pdf document)

The adult flies are tiny midges that emerge in spring, when the females lay eggs in pear blossom shortly before it opens.

The larvae feed inside the developing fruitlets, reducing the centre to a blackish brown mush. The larvae are fully fed by late May-June, when the damaged fruitlets drop off.

The larvae enter the soil where they overwinter inside silk cocoons before pupating in the spring.