B. C. ENTO.MOLOGICAl. PROCEEDINGS, 1911. 17 



being packed for shipment, I detected the Scale, traced the infection to 

 the orchard from which the fruit had been sent for packing, and notified 

 the owner that unless immediate steps were taken to destroy the infec- 

 tion, I would quarantine the orchard, although it is a large commercial 

 concern, consisting of thousands of bearing trees, and in the vicinity of 

 several very promising young orchards. 



I have the assurance that the infection will be promptly dealt with. 

 It is by taking such precautions as these that we have been enabled to 

 keep the interior of the Province comparatively free from this pest. 



Coming now to the life history of this insect, it completes the round 

 of life once a >ear. It belongs to the order "Hemiptera," Family 

 Coccidae, sub-family Diaspinae (Armoured Scales). It is owing to the 

 fact of being protected by the covering scale that it is one of our most 

 difficult pests to eradicate. 



The winter is passed in the egg, underneath the protecting scale of 

 the female. I have here a sample of the egg clusters, which I will 

 submit for the inspection and information of all who should care to 

 examine it. These eggs hatch out usually the latter part of Ma\- on 

 the Lower Mainland, probably from one to two weeks earlier on \'an- 

 couver Island. 



It is after the insects arc hatched, and the tiny youngsters are seeking 

 for a place to settle, that they are most exposetl to the effect of our 

 contact sprats. They cannot be poisoned, but must be destro\ed by 

 contact sprays. 



If our fruit-growers will keep a close watch from the middle to the 

 last of May, and immediate!)- apply contact spraying material, such as 

 the "Black Leaf 40," a compound of Sulphur and Nicotine, and spray 

 the trees thoroughly with this mixture, the)' will do a great deal to 

 eradicate the pest. 



If not destroyed at this time, the young insect establishes itself at a 

 favorable point on the bark of the trunk and branches. A favorite loca- 

 tion is on the fruit spurs. It inserts its beak and begins to suck nourish- 

 ment from the tissues under the bark. 



As the female lays from fifty to eighty eggs, the increase is exceed- 

 ingly rapid, and with all those little suckers extracting the juices of the 

 fruit-tree, we may expect a rapid deterioration both in quantity and 

 quality of the fruit, for the juices that should properly go to the building 

 up of the tissues of the fruit are supporting an encrustation of these 

 Scales. 



It takes about three months from the date on which the young are 

 hatched out till the female attains full maturity, and begins its egg- 

 la\ ing process. As soon as the tiny insect establishes Itself, white waxy 

 filaments extend from the back of the \oung. This excretion mats down 



