140 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



few eggs are laid by each female, l)iit there are so many of these that 

 the progeny is always tremendous. The eggs are protected under the 

 posterior portion of the scale and as they hatch the young crawl forth 

 to seek suitable feeding places. The males develop much quicker than 

 do the females, and copulate immediately before dying. There are 

 probabl}^ several uneven generations a year. 



Distribution. — As this i^est is confined to the date growing sections 

 of the State, it is found only in the southern part and more particu- 

 larly in Riverside and Imperial counties. 



IP),^ «;^;;-' J^0. 









< ''^ . ■ ' J, . 





FiG. 123. — The date palm 

 scale, Parlatoria blanchardii 

 (Targ. ), on leaf of date palm. 

 (Original.) 



Food Plants. — So far as known this scale feeds only upon the com- 

 mercial varieties of date palms. 



Control.— Burning over the trunks of the palm trees has proved an 

 effective remedy for this scale. 



Natural Enemies. — The principal enemies of this pest are the 

 larvae of the ashy gra^^ ladybird beetle (Olla ahdom.inalis), Chilocorus 

 cacti and Scymnus sps. Internal parasites do very little to cheek it ; in 

 fact none of the natural enemies play an important part in its control. 



