392 



SCALE INSECTS. 



FAMILY COCCIDiE. 



(Scale Insects, Mealy Bugs, Gall Insects, etc.) 



These insects are small and often microscopic. 

 Great variety in mode of life is displayed; some 

 form waxy or resinous scales, under which they 

 live. 



Scale Insects (Plate 50) may be easily trans- 

 ported from one country to another by introduced 

 plants, which may have eggs or minute creatures 

 present. In this group are some of our most 

 serious pests. 



The Red Orange Scale {Aspidiotus auranti) 

 (Plate 50, Figs. 6 and 7). When a boy is draining 

 the juice from a freckled orange he little thinks 

 that he may be getting a plentiful supply of tiny 

 scale insects from the skin. This scale is circular 

 in form, of a reddish-brown colour, dark in the 

 centre and lighter at the edges. The central part 

 of the **roof" is formed of the cast-off skins of 

 the insects, and is called the pellicle. (Plate 50, 

 Fig. 5.) The larva emerges from under the parent 

 scale. The young female is wingless, and is oval- 

 shaped, with six legs and two antennas. Almost 

 immediately, she chooses a spot and inserts her 

 sucking mouth into the plant tissues and begins 

 to feed; and shortly the scale is formed from 

 secretions from the body, and in a day or two the 



