92 DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF VICTORIA : 



sides the trees, both large and small, were dying in large 

 numbers. Those trees which were not actually killed by 

 the millions of little pumps that were sucking out the life 

 sap of the trees, were greatly weakened, and the lack of sap 

 in the tissues had the effect of cracking the bark in an 

 abnormal manner. Thus the frosts of the winter were 

 able to complete the destruction wrought by the scale. 

 Large numbers of the trees were thus winter-killed, a 

 condition that would not have been present had not the 

 scale been at work. In plantations that had been badly 

 affected, the tall gaunt dead boles of the trees were the only 

 sight that met the eye. The only use that these dead trees 

 could be put to was for firewood, as numerous wood fungi 

 soon put in an appearance, and rendered the timber 

 valueless for fencing and scaffolding purposes." 



The round Black Scale (Aspiodotus Rossi), a very common 

 native pest, has not so far attacked fruit trees, Olives 

 excepted. This scale has a singular life history, as I have 

 found it on the well-known pine-leaved native shrub 

 (Ricinocarpus pinifolius), a plant belonging to the Euphor- 

 biacece, which one would imagine to be palatable to insects 

 of any kind. A singular fact, which was first brought 

 under the notice of Mr. Maskell by me, was its ability to 

 adapt its shape to the food plant upon which it was sub- 

 sisting. On one occasion I found it upon Ricinocarpus, 

 and its altered form exactly fitted the wire-shaped stem 

 and branches of the plant, so that the scales, instead of 

 being nearly round, as in the normal state, were of a long, 

 narrow, oval shape, and of the same colour as the leaf 

 stems, viz., of a reddish colour. This singular fact in the 

 life history of A. Rossi is recorded in the Transactions of 

 the New Zealand Institute. 



Prevention and Remedies. 



In Victoria, the bush fires, although terrible in their 

 visitations, are the chief cause of keeping this formidable 

 pest in check, as the flames sweep rapidly through the 



