CURRANT SCALE. 41 



Lavender in his letter of December 1st, I found (on the 5th) Scales 

 still in larval state. Some were scattered singly on the soft part of 

 the bark ; and in one instance there were a good many, perhaps seven 

 or more, near together. These were of a brownish colour, and on 

 placing several of them in glycerine, one showed itself to be quite in 

 live condition by the active movement of its legs. 



The female Scales of this species are hemispherical in shape, of 

 some shade of brownish yellow, or nut, or rich brown colour, and 

 sometimes shghtly curved outwards at the lowest edge, and the margin 

 finely wrinkled transversely. The size variable, — in the case of the 

 Currant Scales described by Dr. Asa Fitch, of Albany, U.S.A., about 

 0*30 (that is, about three-tenths of an inch) in diameter. In the 

 specimens which I examined, taken from Gooseberry bushes in my 

 own garden, the size ranged from an eighth of an inch to rather more; 

 the width about equal to the length ; the height about one-twelfth of 

 an inch or rather more in the middle. The general surface was so 

 irregularly varied according to age and condition as to make it im- 

 possible to give a precise description. 



The maggots, or larvae, were so small as to be almost invisible to 

 the naked eye, narrowly oval in shape, with six legs, and a pair of 

 horns (see much magnified figure, p. 38). The colour varied much, 

 from some shade of ochrey to puce or reddish, the body was somewhat 

 raised along the middle so as to form a slight keel, and the abdomen 

 of the larvae as well as the female Scales showed a more or less 

 noticeable caudal cleft. 



In regard to the life habits, it appears to me that we may find the 

 Raspberry less liable to very injurious presence of attack consequently 

 on the upright growth of the canes throwing the infestation much 

 more open to weather influences than in the case of Scale presence on 

 Gooseberry and Currant, where much more shelter is afforded by the 

 branches. 



On March 10th (1893), when I found both females and larvae of 

 this L. ribis very prevalent on Gooseberry bushes in my garden at 

 St. Albans, the female Scales were numerous on the old wood, and 

 mainly beneath the branches, where they ivere sheltered from weather, and 

 where the bark was often split or peeled away so as to expose the 

 under surface ; but {up to that date) the infestation was not noticeable 

 on shoots of the preceding year's growth. 



In the notes of habits of the Scale sent me by Mr. W. F. Gibbon, 

 of Seaford Grange, Pershore, as the result of the observations of one 

 season verified by those of the next, he remarked that the young Scale 

 emerged from the egg early in the spring ; he found them hatched 

 out early in February, and walking with freedom on their six legs. 

 At first they were almost transparent, but they soon became of a 



