The Bulletin. 



17 



Upon the whole we are led to believe that the parasite and lady- 

 beetle enemies (especially the former) of the Oyster-shell Scale are not 

 so universally present and active in the more eastern localities as they are 

 in the mountains. During the inspection of the orchard at Morrisville 

 (April 9th) the only evidence we found of natural enemies on any of 

 the trees was a single specimen of a larva, which was presumably of 

 the "twice-stabbed lady-beetle," which was feeding on young scales of 

 this year's hatching. Yet that the lady-beetles sometimes occur in con- 

 siderable numbers is evidenced in a note by Mr. Collett, referring to 

 an infested tree at Andrews, Cherokee County, in which he says : "A 

 colony of lady-beetles seem to spend their life on and around the scale- 

 infested tree. In the summer I have seen hundreds of larva? on this 

 tree." 



Fig. 5. — Adult parasite of Oyster-shell Scale. 

 2. Larva of parasite in scale with scale-in- 

 sect one side and eggs on other. 3. Pupa 

 of parasite. All much enlarged. Drawn 

 from specimens by C. L. Metcalf . 



Mites have been found among the eggs under over-wintering scales in 

 two instances, one of which is indicated in the preceding table. In one 

 case five individuals were under one scale, one of them having its head 

 buried in an egg of the Oyster-shell Scale. But their number seems too 

 small to consider them as an important aid in checking this scale. 



It is to be presumed that some other predaceous insects, like the 

 smaller ground-beetles and larvse of the lace-wing flies, prey upon the 

 young scale-insects to some extent. 



From the table given it is seen that in a total of 584 scales examined 

 from six different localities 81 showed attack by parasites, lady- 

 beetles or mites. This gives nearly 14 per cent as the average 

 killed by these natural enemies during the winter, and this is enough to 

 be really a helpful item. 



