142 



THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



This bark-louse appears first in the form of a brown scale, from which, 

 as it increases in size, there is protruded from the female scale cylindrical 

 white filaments of a waxy nature, in which eggs are laid, and these cottoh- 

 like filaments, as new fibres are secreted, are constantly pushed further 

 back until there protrudes a bunch about four times as 

 large as the scale, as shown in fig. 5, which is thickly 

 crowded with eggs. Permeating through the nest is a 

 quantity of powdery matter which under a high magni- 

 fying power is seen to be in the form of rings. The 

 waxen filaments are adhesive and elastic, and can be 

 pulled out sometimes a foot or more before entirely 

 separating. When heat is applied these fibres melt, and 

 their waxy nature is further demonstrated by their solu- 

 bility in ether and chloroform. A single nest will seldom 

 contain less than 500 eggs, and sometimes upwards of 

 2,000. The female begins to lay eggs in the latter part 

 of May, and continues laying from five to seven weeks, 

 until she dies from exhaustion, her entire life continuing 

 for about thirteen months. During the laying and 

 hatching of the eggs she secretes a quantity of a sweet 

 liquid known as honey-dew, which attracts ants, flies and 

 other insects, and it often happens that the young lice crawl up the legs 

 and bodies of these visitors, by whom they are thus carried to other trees. 

 The newly hatched, yellowish-white lice soon distribute themselves 

 over the branches, and attaching to the succulent portions, pierce the 

 tender bark with their sharp beaks and subsist upon the sap. They shortly 

 become stationary, when they gradually increase in size and finally reach 

 maturity. 



The scale of the male insect is very different from the female. It is 

 longer, in proportion to its size, and there are no waxy filaments projecting 

 from it. When fully mature the insect escapes from its scaly covering and 

 appears as a minute, beautiful and delicately formed two-winged fly, 

 marked with yellowish and chestnut brown, with brilliant rose colored 

 wings which also reflect the colors of the rainbow. These flies do not 

 appear until August and September, and their lives in the winged state are 

 very short, not exceeding two or three days. 



Besides the Maple and the Grape, these insects are, as already stated, 

 also found on the Linden or Basswood, and sometimes on the Elm. 



