THE COTTONY-CUSHION SCALE. 37 



CHAPTER XXV. 



THE COTTONY-CUSHION SCALE. 



(leery a Purchasii. Maskell.) 



Order : Hemiptera. Sub-order : Homoptera. Family : Coccididce. 



This insect is the much dreaded cottony-cushion scale 

 which has made such havoc amongst the orange groves of 

 California, also at the Cape, and later on in Egypt and 

 elsewhere. 



The female (see Plate XX., Fig. 2), is a dark reddish- 

 brown cushion-shaped insect, covered with a thin powder 

 of a whitish yellow colour, with slender filaments, and, 

 according to Mr. Maskell, who described the insect, is 

 stationary at gestation, gradually raising itself on its 

 head, lifting the posterior extremity until nearly perpen- 

 dicular, filling the space Beneath it with thick white 

 cotton, which gradually extends for some distance behind 

 it in an elongated white ovisac (egg-bag), longitudinally 

 corrugated, ovisac often much longer than the insect, and 

 becoming filled with oval red eggs (see Plate XX., Fig. 3). 

 Length of female about ^-in., reaching sometimes to 

 nearly ^in. Insect covered all over with numerous fine 

 hairs. The antennae (horns) have eleven joints, tapering 

 (see Plate XX., Fig. 9), each joint bearing hairs. Feet 

 normal. Rostrum not long. Procreation commences 

 soon after the first formation of the ovisac, the eggs being 

 ejected into the sac as it grows; ovisac at completion 

 containing as many as 350 eggs. 



The young larva (see Plate XX., Figs. 5 and 6) are 

 about -j-iUL. long ; dark-red, elongated, flattish, active, and 

 covered with yellow cottony down. Adult male (see 

 Plate XX., Figs. 7 and 10) large, the length slightly 

 varying, some specimens reach ^in. ; expanse of wings, 

 ^in. ; length of antennas, about ^in. 



