310 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



while, as no American entomologist had given it more than brief men- 

 tion, and its life history had never been published in this country. It 

 was afterward ascertained by Mr. Howard, the successor of Prof. Riley 

 as U. S. Entomologist, that the species was of European origin, and 

 that its habits had been described more than a century and a half ago 

 by the French naturalist Reaumur, and, although the date of its intro- 

 duction into this country could not be given, that it had been known 

 for some time in a number of the Eastern States. 



It is one of the largest and most conspicuous of fruit-tree scales, 

 almost hemispherical in form — approaching conical in the middle — 

 highly polished, of a black color, with a loogitudinal band and marginal 

 streaks of bright red. Such is the fully developed female insect as 

 represented in the illustration. The larval and male scales — seen only 

 during summer — are thin, flat and of a pale greenish-white color.. 

 These are usually seen on the leaves and none are to be found in 

 winter. When a scale is detached during winter or early spring the 

 body of the female can be clearly distinguished from the underside,, 

 imbedded in a jelly like substance, and fixed to the bark by the strong, 

 hair like beak, which measures one-twelfth of an inch in length. From 

 the time the sap begins to circulate in the spring until the eggs are 

 fully formed, about the last of May, there is a coprous secretion of 

 what may be called " honey dew," although it has no sweet flavor and 

 does not seem, to any great extent, to attract ants or other nectar- 

 seeking insects. The abundance of this fluid is remarkable. A branch 

 of peach very badly infested, which had been cut for my examination, 

 was laid on the floor of the piazza and a half hour later every part 

 was outlined in fluid on the paint. This secretion afterward becomes 

 the nutriment of a smutty fungus which blackens and disfigures the 

 tree, but is, in time, a means of dislodging the scale, as it gradually 

 extends to the under sides of the twigs and branches which are most 

 affected by the latter, and penetrating under the bodies of the insects 

 causes them to loosen and drop off. 



To quote from my notes above referred to: "By the 20th of May 

 the eggs are fully formed, crowding every scale — a mass of pale yellow 

 granules. Hatching begins in June and continues for nearly a month. 

 The young are comparatively large, very flat, uniform pale yellow, with 

 long well-developed legs and antennte, and are very active and for a 

 much longer period that is usual in the Goccidoiy By July 15 hatching 

 was completed, and the twigs and foliage of the tree under observa- 

 tion were covered with the young in all stages. At this time the sexes 

 were undistinguishable, but shortly afterward a large number became 



