THE PURPLE SCALE OF THE ORANGE. 27 



irregularly disposed, and sometimes the whole arrangement is confused. 

 The number laid by a single female greatly exceeds that of tho Long 

 Scale ; it varies from twenty-five to seventy, with a probable average 

 of forty -five. 



Young Larva. — The newly-hatched young is irregularly oval in shape, 

 ^•^™"' (tHtt iuch) in length, and of a transparent white color, with a 

 tinge of yellow at the extremities. The antennae are stout, six-jointed. 

 The eyes are minute, and of so fiery red a color that they resemble 

 grains of cayenne pepper. The two bristles at the end of the body are 

 .almost invisible by reason of their fineness. 



Life history. — The metamorphoses of this species are exactly paral- 

 leled by those of the Long Scale, and are undergone in about the same 

 periods of time. The broods of one species are sometimes in advance and 

 at other times slightly behind those of the other. 



Habitat. — Like the Long Scale, this species is found upon tiie twigs 

 and branches, but has a somewhat stronger tendency to overrun the 

 leaves and fruit. It is apt to infest the Lemon, Citron, and those varie- 

 ties of Orange which have large oil cells (Tangerine, etc.). Although it 

 is most at home upon the Orange and its kind, this scale is not exclu 

 sively confined to plants of this family, but is probably a general feeder 

 upon plants of the order Eosacece, which includes nearly all of our fruit 

 trees. 



Origin and Spread. — The Purple Scale must be a common pest in most 

 countries where the Orange is grown, for it is very frequently seen upon 

 imported plants and upon foreign fruit in the northern markets. In 

 Florida it is fortunately not as common as the Long Scale. It is, how- 

 ever, more abundant in the northern than in the southern portions of 

 the orange belt. It is frequently associated with the Loug Scale, and 

 orange-growers do not readily distinguish the two species. 



The introduction of the species into this country probably took place 

 at an early date, but no certain knowledge of its first appearance 

 exists. Mr. Ashmead (Orange Insects, p. 20) and Professor Comstock 

 (Report Commissioner of Agriculture for 1880, p. 323) both give Glover as 

 authority for the statement that this scale was imported into Jackson- 

 ville, Fla., in 1855, on some lemons sent froui Bermuda, but in the 

 citation given Glover refers to an entirely diflerent scale, less than half 

 the size of Mytilaspis citrieola, of a difiereut shape and habit, and which 

 from his imperfect description appears to be the Chaff Scale, Purlatoria 

 pergandii Comstock. 



Parasites. — The parasites of Mytilaspis citricola and M. gloverii are 

 identical, and the mode of attack is in both cases the same. 



Descriptions of several species will be found in the Eeport of the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture for 1880. 



