PROCEEDINGS, 1915. 



39 



TABLE 12. 

 LIFE HISTORY OF IDIOCERUS FITCHI VAN D. 



No. 

 of 

 in- 

 sect. 



Date of 

 hatching. 



Date of 

 1st moult. 



Date of 

 2nd moult. 



Date of 



3rd moult. 



Date of 



4th moult. 



Date of 



5th moult. 



Total 

 length 



of 

 nym- 



phal 

 stage. 



May 25. 

 May 22. 

 May 28. 

 May 22. 

 May 23. 

 June 13 . 

 June 13 . 

 June 13 . 

 June 13. 



June 1 . 

 May 28. 

 June 4 . 

 May 28. 

 June 4 . 

 June 20. 

 June 20. 

 June 18. 

 June 19 . 



June 8 . 

 June 5. 



June 10 . 

 June 10. 

 June 12. 

 June 29. 

 June 26. 

 June 29. 

 June 27. 



June 21 

 June 19 

 June 23 

 June 21 



July 

 July 

 July 

 July 

 July 



July 5 . 

 July 3 . 

 July 7 . 

 July 3 . 

 July 9 . 

 July 14. 

 July 14. 

 July 24. 

 July 27. 



July 12. 

 July 19 

 July 17, 

 July 16. 

 July 19. 

 July 30. 

 July 26, 

 Aug. 4 

 Aug. 2 



Days 

 48 

 58 

 54 

 55 

 57 

 46 

 42 

 51 

 49 



Average duration of nymphal stage 



51 

 Days 



Upon emergence, the adults, males and females, were placed to- 

 gether upon one seedling. On August 17th, a pair of adults were seen 

 copulating and on the 19th the first female was seen in the act of ovipo- 

 sition. The first made a puncture with her beak in the bark of the twig 

 on a roughened surface at the base of the petiole of a leaf. Then drawing 

 herself forward she inserted her ovipostior in the spot, leaving it there for 

 the space of a minute. It was then withdrawn but almost immediately 

 reinserted, this time for two minutes. She again withdrew her ovipositor 

 and again inserted it in the bark, remaining this time for the space of 

 fifteen minutes. One other female was found ovipositing, the place chos- 

 en on this occasion being at the surface of an old wound, marking the spot 

 where a small twig had been cut off. Here she inserted her ovipositor 

 remaining in this position for several minutes. 



Injuries. Though fairly common throughout the Annapolis Valley 

 the injury caused by this insect can scarcely be detected. There is no 

 noticeable blotching of the leaves or any sign of curling as far as we could 

 •discover. Occasionally a globule of clear sap might be seen oozing from 

 the petiole of a leaf where it has been punctured by the insect. Other 

 than that there was no apparent injury. 



Scale Insects. 



Scale insects belong to the family Coccidae, a group containing many 

 species of great economic importance. They are usually quite small in- 

 sects, scale-like or gall-like in form, or grub-like and clothed with wax. 



