INSECTS INFESTING ORANGE TREES, ETC. 



163 



CHAPTER XCI. 



The Soft Orange Scale. (Cal.) 



{Lecanivm hesperidum. — Linngeus.) 



Order, Hemiptera ; } -r^ n n 



Sub-o^der, HoMOPTERA ; \ ^^"^^^>^' ^occjbje. 



[An oval flattened scale insect, infesting citrus trees, 

 especially the orange.] 



The soft orange scale is found in California in nearly every 

 locality where citrus trees are grown ; it infests the wood, 

 foliage and fruit. This, or a closely allied species, isfound on 

 plants in hot-houses. 



Fig. 139. 



Fig. 139. — Soft Orange 

 Scales ; at the left, one of the 

 scales enlarged — color, yel- 

 lowish. 



In the Treatise on Injuri- 

 ous Insects, 1881, I describ- 

 ed the male of this species 

 as winged. Prof. Comstock, 

 in his Entomological Report 

 of 1880, writes: "The male 

 of this species has never been 

 found, although it has been 

 studied from the time of 

 Linnaeus down." 



In^September, 1880, I pre- 

 pared a 'dry mounting of a 

 specimen of Lecanium hes- 

 peridum for microscopic use 

 at the State Fair of that year ; 

 early in the week a small in- 

 sect was noticed coming from under a specimen beneath the 

 glass, and finally released itself. It proved to be a male scale 

 insect. 



