MITES WHICH DESTROY SCALE-INSECTS 83 



This species certainly feeds upon the eggs of Coccids, and probably 

 also upon their young, and sucks the juices of the adult Bark-lice, when- 

 ever it can get at them. 



The Hairy Orange Mite.**— Probably the next in point of abund- 

 ance is a larger mite, dark red in color, covered with pale hairs, broadly 

 oval in form, and with several irregular indentations upon the back. 

 This mite is also very rax)id in its movements, and is certainly predatory 

 upon Scale-iiisects or their eggs. 



The eggs are sherry -brown in color, quite large and globular, and at o 

 usually deposited singly upon the leaf among scales, or strung like 

 amber beads upon strands of spider's web, which harbor the mites and 

 their young. 



The six-legged young are spindle-shaped, of a lighter, ruby-red color, 

 the extremities pale, and have an eye-like prominence on each side of 

 the anterior body. The length of the adult is 0.3™'" (yioo iuch). 



The Spear-head Mite.''^ — Another not uncommon Red Mite seems to 

 be predatory upon Scale-insects. It is rather larger than the i>reced- 

 ing ; dull, opaque red, not hairy; the body is distinctly diamond or 

 spear shaped, somewhat flattened, with a sharp median ridge upon the 

 .back, having on each side a longitudinal depression; a band of pale 

 brown is sometimes seen across the middle of the back. Length, 0.35™'" 

 (r^0 inch). 



This species is sluggish and solitary. The eggs are deep red, globu- 

 lar, and are deposited singly among scales. 



There are numerous species of Mites found about and among Scale- 

 insects, of which a few only ai)pear to be dependent upon them for their 

 subsistence, or peculiar to the orange tree and its kind. Some of these 

 mites are undoubtedly merely scavengers, living about, if not upon, the 

 dirt and debris that collect where the plant is fouled with Scale-insects, 

 but never appearing to attack the insect itself in any stage. Possibly 

 they feed upon the excrement or excretions of other insects, or upon 

 molds that accompany such ejected matter. 



The predatory Mites are usually active, running hither and thither 

 restlessly, occasionally stopping to examine the sealed edge of a scale 

 or to pry into a vacant and deserted shell. 



The young of Mites frequently differ entirel.y from the adults in form 

 and coloration; they have, moreover, but three pairs of legs, while the 

 adults have four pairs. The life-history of many species is im])erfectly 

 known. 



The Spotted Mite.' — This is a rather large, egg-shaped or pear- 

 shaped Mite, with a very plump, smooth, shining, and i>ellucid body, 

 either white or honey-yellow in color, and provided with a few very 

 long and fine biistLe-hairs ; the division of the body into two parts is 

 barely indicated by a tine line; in adult specimens the body behind is 

 more or less clouded with red-brown, forming sometimes a distinct spot; 

 a large round spot on each side, upon the declivities of the hind-body, 



