Rural School Leaflet 



.1271 



however, the true mother aphides, which are always without wings, are 

 produced ; these deposit the eggs, thus completing the life, cycle. 



Injury and control. — The aphides suck the juices from the leaves and 

 cause them to curl and remain small and stunted. They also prevent the 

 yovmg twigs from making their regular amount of growth. Moreover, the 

 fruit itself is dwarfed and deformed through the presence of the aphides. 



These plant lice are very hard to control. They must be hit with some 

 substance that wnll kill them, for they cannot be poisoned. Moreover, 

 they must be hit before they become hidden within the curled leaves. 

 Therefore, the spraying must be done early. The most effective method 

 of control so far devised is to hit the lice on the opening buds with " black 

 leaf 40 " and soap just after the lice have hatched from the eggs. "Black 

 leaf 40 " is a tobacco extract and should be used at the rate of | of a pint 

 or a pint to every 100 gallons of water. To this mixture should be added 

 4 or 5 pounds of whale-oil soap or good laundry soap. The soap aids the 

 material in sticking and spreading, thus making it more effective. When 

 the trees are badly infested a second application may well be made just 

 after the petals have fallen from the blossoms. 



THE SAN JOSE SCALE 



Aspidiotus perniciosus 



Appearance of the insect. — The San Jose scale is a very small insect 

 about the size of the head of a pin. The body is soft, yellowish white, 

 and wholly hidden beneath a grayish, waxy scale. The scale is circular 

 in outline and somewhat conical in shape with a fine point at the apex 

 often surrounded by a grayish ring. In fact the scale, when magnified, 

 resembles a small, low, circular mound. It serves as a fine protective 

 covering for the insect beneath. When a peach twig is infested with a 

 multitude of these scales, it looks as though it were covered with a layer 

 of ash-gray sctuf . 



Story of its life. — The San Jose scale passes the winter in a partly 

 grown condition on the branches of the plants that it infests. The scale 

 that covers the body in the winter is dark brown or very nearly black 

 and smaller than when the insect is full-grown. In the spring, when the 

 plant starts growth, the insect grows rapidly and usually becomes mature 

 in June. The young are then produced in great numbers. The young 

 insects look like tiny mites as they crawl about over the branches in search 

 of a place to settle down and insert their tiny beaks into the bark. After 

 a few hours each one settles and begins to secrete its waxy scale. In 

 the course of forty to forty-five days they become full-grown, and another 

 generation is bom. There may be three or four generations in New York 



