New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 455 



amined during the wiuter the scales will be found varying in size 

 from less than half grown to fully matured. On badly infested 

 trees they are crowded in great numbers very close together. 

 On trees not badly infested they will be found in groups of from 

 two or three to many more with numerous individuals scattered 

 about on the bark. The writer has not had an opportunity of 

 studying the life history of the scale in western New York until 

 within the past few weeks, and hence no observations have been 

 made as to the time the females first begin producing young in 

 the spring. On Long Island, however, the males mature in 

 April and during the following month the females begin giving 

 birth to young. Unlike most scale insects, the young are 

 brought forth, in nearly all cases, alive. According to Howard 

 and Marlatt the average number of young produced by a single- 

 female is 400. The period during which an individual female 

 will continue producing young lasts for six or seven weeks. The 

 newly born scales are nearly microscopic in size, with bodies 

 oval in shape^ when viewed from above, and orange yellow in 

 color. They remain under the mother scale for a short time, 

 finally coming forth to wander about until a suitable place is 

 found to insert their sharp thread-like setse by means of which 

 they suck the sap. By this time thread-like waxy secretions 

 have begun to appear on the back of each little scale. These 

 waxy secretions together with the cast skins form the scales. 

 At first there is no difference in appearance between the male and 

 female scales, but according to Howard and Marlatt* the differ- 

 ence becomes apparent after the first molt. Owing to the com- 

 paratively long period during which young are produced it is 

 difficult to ascertain the number of generations. Judging from 

 the scales, as they appear in the winter, however, it is probable 

 that young are produced until the latter part of the summer or 

 early in the fall. After all their young have been brought forth 

 the old females die, the young surviving to continue the species. 

 Means of distribution. — Locally the active scales are undoubt- 

 edly carried about by birds; insects, such as beetles; and prob- 

 ably on the clothing of persons working in the infested nursery 



*U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Ent. BuL 3, new series, p. 46. 



