FORTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT. 91 



to emerge from his scale, develops into a small, yellowish, two-winged 

 fly. The insects pass the winter in a half grown condition under the 

 scales, the breeding time occurring in the latter part of April, in the 

 south, and probably two or three weeks later in this section. The female 

 gives birth to live young about a month later, and continues to do so for 

 six weeks. The young insects resemble small mites, and are equipped 

 with the usual six legs of an ordinary insect, together with a long, 

 sucking mouth part, with which they pierce the bark of the tree, and 

 suck the juices from it. The young scale moves about freely over the 

 bark of the tree for from twelve to thirty-six hours after birth, after 

 which it is ready to settle down, if a female, for the rest of its life. It 

 selects a suitable place, thrusts its beak into the fruit or bark, and forms 

 a protecting scale of hard wax. The San Jose has a remarkable power 

 of reproduction, it having been estimated that in a single season, a 

 single female will have progeny numbering over three billion, if all 

 lived. After having become incrusted with its scale, the female loses 

 all power of locomotion, and becomes merely an almost shapeless mass, 

 with a single power of obtaining food. 



The oyster-shell, which is represented by this other model, is also a 

 bad pest in many orchards, especially in the Northern part of the State, 

 and is even harder to exterminate. The insect itself, looks somewhat 

 similar to the San Jose on a superficial examination, but as you can 

 see the scale it is very different, having the nipple at one end instead of 

 in the middle. But the greatest difference in the two is their method of 

 reproduction and of spending the winter. The oyster shell scale lays 

 its eggs in the fall, and these remain under the scale during the winter, 

 while as mentioned above, the San Jose lays no eggs, and spends the 

 winter in a half grown condition. 



The control of these two creatures is practically identical, and con- 

 sists in sjiraying the trees in the spring, just as the buds are beginning 

 to swell, with strong lime-sulphur solution. The San Jose scale yields 

 readily to this treatment, but the oyster shell will be much harder to 

 control, due to the fact that it passes the winter in the egg state, but 

 successive annual applications of the remedy will be found efficient. 

 The principle on which this spray works has been touched on by one of 

 the former speakers. A drop of spray, hitting a scale, becomes hard- 

 ened, and seals the scale tightly to the bark, thus cutting off the supply 

 of air, and causing the death of the insects by suffocation. There may 

 also be some effect on the wax of the scale by lime sulphur, but this is 

 not so important as the failure of the air supply. We will let this 

 bottle of mucilage represent a drop of lime sulphur solution, and pour 

 it over the scale, which covers the insect. After awhile, this will become 

 hardened, sealing the scale to the bark, and killing the insect. 



