THE RED SCALE OF CALIFORNIA. 



33 



ever greatly to be feared. The following discussion of the species is 

 found in the Keport of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1880, p. 293: 

 ^' Scale of Female. —This scale resem bles that of Aspidiotiis ficusui shape, 

 "size, and the presence of the nipple-like prominence, which indicates 

 the ])ositi()n of the first larval skin ; but it can be readily distinguished 

 from the scale of that si)ecies as follows: It is light gray, and quite 

 translucent; its apparent color depending on the colorof the insect be- 

 neath, and varying fiom a light greenish yellow to a bright reddish 

 brown ; the central third (that i)art which covers the second skin) is as 

 dark, and usually darker than the remainder of the scale; and when 

 the female is fully grown the peculiar reniform body is discernible 

 througii the scale, causing the darker part of the outer two-thirds of 

 the scale to appear as a broken ring, (Fig. G^.) # * * 



Fig. C — Anpidiotvs aurantii Maskpll. 6, scales on leaves of orange, natural size : a, adult male, 

 mucU eularj;ed; b, scales of female, eulargtd; c, scale of male, enlarged. (After Comstock.) 



^'■Efffj. — I have not seen the eggs of this species, excepting those taken 

 from the body of the female. And as I have repeatedly found young 

 larvae under the scales I am led to believe that the species is vivipar- 

 ous. 



^^ Scale of Male. — The scale of the male resembles that of the female, 

 excepting that it is only one-fourth as large ; the posterior side is pro- 

 longed into a flap, which is quite thin ; and the i)art which covers the 

 larval skin is olten lighter than the remainder of the scale. 



'■''Male. — The male is light yellow, with the thoracic band brown, and 

 6521 o I 3 



