ENEMIES, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 103 



The two former are beetles, whose larvae, hatching in the 

 spring at the same time with the scale insects, wage re- 

 lentless war upon them. They come in April and disap- 

 pear in June, to reappear when the great fall broods are 

 hatched. 



The orange chrysopa is another most helpful friend ; it 

 is a small, lace-winged, yellowish green fly, much resem- 

 bling a tiny dragon-fly ; its eggs are suspended on a deli- 

 cate thread to the orange leaf, the larva covers itself with 

 minute pieces of dried leaves or bark, feeding on the scale 

 inside until the time comes for it to form an oval moss-like 

 cocoon on the under part of the leaf, whence in a few days 

 the perfect fly emerges. 



The blood-red lady-bug is also an exceedingly active 

 helper to the orange grower, devouring the scale insects by 

 the million; the pupa emerges from a gummy substance 

 attached to a leaf, and becomes a perfect beetle (red) with- 

 out spots or markings. We have been thus particular in 

 describing the appearance of these little friends of ours 

 that they may be recognized as such, and their lives 

 spared. Other friends the orange tree has besides, but 

 we have not space to enumerate them. 



The mealy bug is one of the most serious enemies, not 

 only of the orange but of the pine-apple, and if not relent- 

 lessly fought, threatens to become a worse enemy than the 

 scale. It makes no scale shelter, is ever moving about, 

 and places its eggs beneath a cotton-like substance. In 

 twelve days they hatch, and the young begin their career 

 of destruction, sucking the juices from the tender leaves 

 and twigs, the odd, mealy substance from which they take 

 their name forming meanwhile all over them. They in- 

 crease very rapidly, breeding all the year, and seem to 

 defy any wash that does not contain kerosene ; this, how- 

 ever, is fatal to them. 



