THE DARK PURPLE WATTLE SCALE 51 



CHAPTER LXXIII. 



THE DARK PURPLE WATTLE SCALE. 

 {Pseudococcus albizzice, Mask. ) 



Order: Hemiptera. Sub-Order: Homoptera. 



Family : Coccididce. 



This formidable scale insect was found by myself 

 destroying the plants of the so-called "Cape Wattle" 

 {Albizzia lophantha) in and around Melbourne, and 

 was submitted by me to that eminent specialist on scale 

 insects, the late W. M. Maskell, of New Zealand, 

 who determined it to be a new species, the specific 

 name Albizzitz being given on account of its food plant 

 being, as above stated, the Cape Wattle. 



In general appearance the insects are black and white, 

 but upon closer examination it may be seen that they 

 are of a dark plum color, sometimes almost black, with 

 a white margin, the adult females being covered with a 

 cottony secretion (see Fig 2). 



The larva, which is magnified on our plate, is a 

 singular-looking creature, and at certain seasons of the 

 year the larvae simply swarm over the affected trees, 

 and from thence are easily distributed by means of 

 plants, and possibly by birds carrying the larvae on their 

 feet, from tree to tree. 



When a tree is badly affected (and this insect is a 

 deadly enemy of the u Black Wattle," Acacia decurrens) 

 the branches become black and dirty looking, and, when 

 left unchecked, the pests will soon kill the tree right 

 out. 



Swarms of ants frequent trees infested by this scale, 

 these being attracted by the so-called " honey dew," a 

 sugary secretion peculiar to many of the Homoptera, and 

 present also in this species. 



It will be noticed from the plate that the adult insects 



