Of True Bugs in General. 



81 



the increase, for, when at its worst, the pest destroyed 

 some 2,500,000 acres of vineyards, representing an annual 

 loss in wine products of the value of $150,000,000. 



Birds do not generally care much for true bugs, for, as 

 a rule, their main defense is a very pronounced odor. A 

 creature that does not escape discovery by mimicking its 

 surroundings has only to make itself taste nasty to birds 



Jf 



Fig. 16. The hop-plant louse, third generation on the plum tree, the one 

 that flies to the hop vines; enlarged head below. 



to be let quite alone by them. However, other insects 

 are not so particular, and the syrphus-flies and lace-winged 

 flies (these latter themselves by no means suggestive of 

 roses and violets) will very effectively clear off the plant- 

 lice if they give their minds to it. The little vedalia, im- 

 ported expressly to eat up the San Jose scale insect, did 

 its work very thoroughly. 



Some bugs smell like ripe pears, and the coreids are 

 said to be aromatic like cinnamon. I shouldn't wonder if 

 there was money in raising coreids for cinnamon essence. 

 The cochineal bugs used to be very good for red dyes 

 before aniline came in. The cori.va bug lays such enorm- 

 ous masses of eggs on the lakes near the city of Mexico 

 that they are exported by the ton into England to feed 

 song-birds and poultry. The Mexican Indians make a 

 cake of these eggs. They say it has a pleasant acid 



