EXPERIMENT STATION EEPORT. 



')89 



diameter. Eggs begin to form in May and to hatch in June, accord- 

 ing to published accounts, though all the early stages can be found at 

 almost all times during the summer. The young are yellowish in 

 color, almost transparent in appearance, and set on the under sides 

 of the leaves, along the veins, in great numbers. Only a few examples 

 were found set on the twigs in August. The insects excrete honey 

 dew in considerable quantity, and wherever it falls a black soot fungus 

 develops upon it. This has a tendency to choke the leaves and cause 

 them to drop, and when it api>ears on the fruit makes the latter un- 

 salable. The male is a very minute, two-winged fly, orange red in 

 color, and resembles in a general way the same sex in other species. 

 The impregnated females that have set on the leaves migrate to the 

 twigs in late summer and grow rapidly to the winter condition. 



Fig. ar. 



The Peach Soft Scale, Lecanium peisicx Mod. : male scale at right ; pupa next ; adult male 



next; leaf with young male scales at left— last natural size, all others greatly 



enlarged. From Howard, Div. Ent., U. 8. Dept. Agric. 



At the end of the first half of August the infested trees near 

 Bridgeton had still a considerable number of over-wintered females, 

 which were yet bearing young. A very few eggs were found, but under 

 most of them was a little mass of newly-hatched larva?. In fact, so 

 general was this condition that it was at first believed that the young 

 were born alive, no traces of the eggs being apparent. Only on close 

 search were a few examples found in which there were some unhatched 

 eggs in the mass. Moving larvae were few in number, but recent sets 

 on the leaves were abundant. Well-advanced females were distin- 



I 



