86 



Pig. 4. Leaf showing Jnsecte (natural 



" 



plan is to make a paste of sugar and 

 arsenic, in equal proportions ; spread 

 on a piece of soft deal board, which 

 should be lightly buried near to 

 where the pests are troublesome. 

 They will soon find out the piece of 

 board, and the paste will poison them 

 in great numbers. 



Wood-lice. The common wood- 

 louse (Oniscus aseUus) is a well-known 

 insect that is sometimes troublesome 

 in Strawberry plantations, but other- 

 wise causes little damage in orchards 

 or fruit gardens. It is from half to 

 three-quarters of an inch in length, 

 with a flat body, and 14 feet. In 

 colour it is a brown, slaty blue, and 

 the back forms a shell. Remedies : 

 Poisoning with solutions of arsenic, in 

 which potatoes, parsnip^ or other 

 roots have been cooked. These should 



be placed near the haunts of the Fig. 5. Perfect Insect with wings 

 insects. spread (highly magnified). 



USEFUL IVSECTS. 



Though the fruit-grower is troubled by a large number of injurious 

 insects, yet there are others, though the list is limited, that are useful. 

 The more prominent among these friendly insects are the true Lady- 

 birds, which embrace a number of species, the family being known 

 scientifically as the Coccinellidce. These insects, both in the adult and 

 larvae or young state, wage incessant war with the various kinds of 

 Aphides and Scale, and they materially assist in keeping these pests 

 under. All the family are very active and voracious, and they will 

 rapidly devour large numbers of the insects they prey upon. They are 

 widely distributed over the world, and some fifty distinct species are said 

 to be found in Australasia. The following species are the most useful and 

 common of those to be found in Victoria and New South Waks : 



Orcus Australasias. A steel-blue species, the larvae of which eats with 

 avidity the orange and other scale insect*, and various kinds of aphides. 

 In colour the larvae is black, with a whitish line extending throughout 

 its length, and is a little more than a quarter of an inch long. The 

 perfect insect is a steel-blue beetle, with bright red spots. 



Orcus chalybeus, another small steel-blue species, is also an eft' 

 enemy to various scale insects. It is exceedingly voracious, and carries 

 en an active warfare against the peats it preys upon. 



Leis ccnformis is a rather large specie?, with large dots, which eats 

 with avidity the orange and other kinds of aphis, as also the American 

 or Woolly Blight that affects Apple trees. 



