Pear Midge

The first casualties of the season. This is a very good example of a fruitlet infected with pear midge. The variety is conference, and there is a very clear difference between the rounded shape of the affected fruit and the pyriform shape of the others. Also, there is a clear entry wound in the form of a small, darkened dot, though this isn't always easy to find when culling potentially affected fruitlets.

Cutting open reveals a wriggling mass of the grubs.

Midge hasn't been too much of a problem here to date. Only certain varieties seem to be affected, though whether this is due to a particular susceptibility or just that these happen to be at the right stage for the midge's cycle is unclear.