INSECTS AFFECTIXC, PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 



197 



a scaly covering ami in the fall present the appearance shown at figure 12, 

 on plate 2. 



Life history and habits. This species is vcr)' prolific. One female 

 rarely deposits less than 500 eggs and most frecpientl)- produces over 2000, 

 as estimated by the late J. D. Putnam, who published an 

 exhaustive paper on this species in the proceedings of the 

 Davenport Academy of Natural Science, of Iowa. Certain 

 facts regarding the life history of this insect are taken from 

 his treatise on this scale insect. The young leave the 

 mother in immense numbers about the latter part of July, 

 in the latitude of Albany X. V., and establish themselves 

 along the veins and usually on the underside of the leaves. 

 Some may be found on the upjier surface, and occasionally fis. so rTTv i „ .. r i : 

 attacking the more tender twigs. The breeding season in young hibern:idngfcm:,ie 

 Washington D. C, as stated b\- Dr Howard, extends from iJ^,,d.'"<Ah^ruol'"d. 

 the latter part of May or early June, into early July, and e,u. e„l 22. ■i.T'iqo-,"' 

 may last till August. He states that the young on the underside of 

 the leaves appear to grow more rapidly than those on the upper sur- 

 face. The first molt occurs in the vicinity of Washington 1). C, in about 

 a month. This is followed by the secretion of a homogeneous layer of 

 wax. The insects are yellowish for a period, the females showing deep 

 red markings about the time the delicate two winged males appear. They 

 later change to a lirownish color, and migrate to the side of the twigs 

 shortly before the leaves fall. Mr Putnam found that the males appear in 

 Iowa, Aug. I to Sep. 15, pair and then die. Ur Howard records the 

 appearance of the males at Washington D. C, on Aug. iS, and states that 

 the full grown male scales may be easily recognized by their narrower 

 and more convex form. The females pass the winter on the underside 

 of the twigs, and in the spring increase rapidly in size and secrett; large 

 amounts of honeydew, which gums the leaves and smears everything 

 beneath the infested trees. The last of .April or early in ]\Iay, in the vicin- 

 ity of Washington D. C, the insects begin to e.xcrete the familiar cottony 



