76 INSECT PESTS 



jaws. The pupa is quite white. The beetles lay their 

 eggs in May, inside the bark, and a second brood may 

 appear in the autumn. As to treatment, remember that 

 decayed wood is greatly preferred, so that prunings should 

 not be left about in heaps, and infested branches should 

 be cut off and burnt. A coating of soft soap and wash- 

 ing-soda acts as a deterrent against the boring of these 

 beetles. (See larva and beetle on Plate 18.) 



The Woolly Aphis, Apple Root Louse, or American 

 BHght are the names given to an aphid known to science 

 as Schizoneura lanigera, which is usually abundant in 

 old and neglected orchards where lichens and mosses have 

 covered the trees, although it sometimes turns up in new 

 plantations. The insect is so small even when full-grown 

 that it may often be sent out on young stock from 

 nurseries, and even from one country to another. 



The Woolly Aphis feeds, like all its kind, by piercing 

 the outer tissue and draining off the sap by means of its 

 proboscis. The wound produced by WooUy Aphis some- 

 times serves as an aid to the growth of canker fungi. 

 The insect is oval in shape and scarcely more than ^ inch 

 in length, the colour being yellow at first and then purple 

 brown. They are both winged and wingless, and vivi- 

 parous, i.e. produce their young alive. (See Plate 18.) 



Natural enemies of this pest are found among the Hover 

 Flies and the larvae of Ladybirds ; whilst the Tits, 

 especially the Blue Tit, do a lot of good in keeping them 

 down. (See Plates 15 and 18.) 



The Mussel Scale is one of the strangest of all insects. 

 It is frequently taken for a growth on the bark, but an 

 examination with a pocket lens will show a dried-up 

 object very like a mussel shell, hence the name. This 

 is caused by a tiny creature called Mytilaspis pomorum 

 belonging to the Hemiptera. The males and females 

 differ slightly in outline and in size, the latter being about 

 I inch long. Very few people have seen the male scale 

 as they are comparatively scarce, the females being self- 



