SALTBUSH SCALE. 103 



plant for the purpose of laying its eggs that the cottony 

 oversac is developed. This cottony or waxy scale com- 

 pletely envelops the eggs, which are further protected 

 by the dead and dry body of the mother scale, which 

 forms a sort of cap to the oversac, remaining firmly attached 

 to its lower end. In this respect the Saltbush Scale 

 resembles the well-known Fluted or Cottony Cushion 

 Scale (Icerya purchasi), although the two insects belong 

 to separate genera that differ greatly in structure and 

 habits. In September, the eggs of the Pulvinaria or 

 Saltbush Scale were beginning to hatch between the 

 cottony sacs, and the young larvae, minute, active, six- 

 legged creatures, with six- jointed antennae, and two long 

 anal setae, soon make their way to the young and tender 

 shoots of their food plant." . 



Prevention and Remedies. 



As this pest will most likely reach our State through the 

 agency of birds and other means, it behoves us to be 

 careful. The plants growing on the Victorian side of the 

 river should be occasionally examined, and the matter at 

 once reported if any outbreak should occur. 



Under the conditions in which this pest seems to thrive 

 best, it would appear that, owing to the large areas affected, 

 the ordinary treatment, spraying with a deterrent or a 

 remedial mixture, is practically out of the question. It 

 is therefore advisable to await the advent of natural 

 enemies in sufficient quantities and at the proper time. 



The best way would be to pull up and burn as many of 

 the affected plants as possible, as the increase of these 

 insects is so rapid that one badly-infested plant will speedily 

 insure the immediate infestation of all plants growing in 

 the vicinity. As Mr. Olliff remarks, " One thing cannot 

 be insisted on too strongly, and that is the absolute neces- 

 sity for immediate destruction of the pest wherever it is 

 found in limited patches. I venture to think that this 



