AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 123 



The most of these soon fix themselves around the base of the side 

 shoots of the twigs by means of their tiny, slender beaks and live 

 upon the sap of the tree. They gradually undergo changes shown 

 in Fig. 5 — 3, 4, 5 and 6. Before the close of the season the louse 

 secretes the scale under which it lives and perfects itself. 



By the middle of August the female becomes a bag of eggs, 

 which are deposited in a mass under the scale, the body of the louse 

 shriveling, as the eggs are laid, until it is a mere speck at the small 

 end of the scale. These eggs remain under the scale, if not 

 destroyed, until the following spring and then hatch, completing the 

 life history. 



How this pest is spread from tree to tree is not well made out, 

 'but it is supposed that birds carry them on their feet and that large 

 insects may transport them, or that the wind may blow them about. 

 They are probably introduced into young orchards on the nursery 

 ;stoc'k and multiply. 



REMEDIES. 



Inspect carefully the nursery stock before setting and remove any 

 scales that may be found. During the winter, examine the trees 

 in the orchard and scrape off the scales found on the larger branches 

 and twigs. In the spring watch for the young lice which may be 

 seen crawling about on the twigs, and then brush the trees with the 

 soap and soda solution mentioned for borers, or spra^^ the trees 

 with a solution of one-half pound of soda to a pail of water. 



This pest is held in check by quite a number of insect parasites. 

 At least four small Chalcid Ichneumon files are known to prey upon 

 it. A species of mite so small that it can hardly be seen without a 

 lens preys upon the louse and its eggs, and has done much to hold 



it in check. The lady biid shown in Fig. 7, and its 

 T larva eat large numbers of the lice. (This small 



beetle has black wings with a blood red spot on each. 



The larva is a grayish worm covered with bristles and 

 very active.) Insectivorous birds are supposed to eat some of the 

 lice and their eggs, 



THE APPLE-TREE TENT CATERPILLAR. 



Glisiocampa Americana, Harris. 



This insect has been very abundant the past season. As many as 

 a dozen webs were counted on a single tree. The insect and its web 



