PLANT BUGS, APHIDES, AND SCALE. 2.39 



resinous substance which also contains a colouring 

 matter known as lac-dye, and the resinous portion, 

 being melted down after the colour is extracted, is 

 shell-lac, or seed-lac, according to the manner in 

 which it is prepared. Yet another species was found 

 in the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai feeding on the 

 tamarisk, on which it produced a sweet secretion 

 resembling manna. And in China a beautiful white 

 wax is due to insects of this family. If the oranges 

 which are imported into this country are carefully 

 examined, a few female cad will often be found 

 adhering to the rind ; and any gardener will furnish 

 specimens of a "scale" which persistently adheres to 

 the fronds of cultivated palms and other plants. 



If a gardener be asked his experience of these 

 insects in hothouse cultivation, he will furnish plenty 

 of material for judgment on their capacity for mis- 

 chief in what he may have to tell of the Mealy 

 Bug, and the Pineapple Scale, and the Orange 

 Scale, and unfortunately many others. Some of 

 the herbaceous plants in lanes and woods are often 

 densely covered about the stems with little scale in- 

 sects ; but they so little resemble insects in appear- 

 ance, that they are liable to be mistaken for some 

 unhealthy condition of the plant. 



There are two ways in which these and all other 

 insects may be made objects of study. The one 

 and most common method, is to collect the insects 

 wherever they can be found, kill them, and expand 

 and arrange their wings and legs, attach to them 

 the names by which they are scientifically known, 

 and arrange them in boxes, in an orderly manner, 



