546 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



When attacked by this dis- 



ease, the body of the scale be- 



comes filled with a mass of 



fungal threads (mycelium) 



and shortly after the time of 



attack, the insect is dead. By 



the time the fruit stage of 



the fungus is reached, the 



body of the insect has been Fig . n 9 . Red Fun gus of scale insects 



destroyed; the scale covering 



B, Spore-bearing bodies grow- 

 remains. ing ou t of scales (enlarged). 



Following this period of growth in the body of the 

 insect, one or more orange-colored, knob-like bodies are 

 produced. Sometimes these actually break through the 

 scale, at other times they emerge from the sides. One of 

 these, enlarged, is shown in Fig. 119. These knob-shaped 

 bodies contain the spores which are microscopical in size. 

 By means of them the disease spreads to other insects. 

 the spores light upon or near other scales. A delicate 

 mycelial tube is produced which penetrates the body of the 

 scale and its death is brought about as before. The spores, 

 greatly enlarged, are shown in Fig. 119. 



This fungus is quite effective in holding scale insects 

 in check. It is also found occasionally on the pupae of 

 White Fly. 



The Gray Fungus, Opheonectria coccicola E. and 

 E. So far as observation goes, this is probably the most 

 widely distributed fungous enemy of the citrus scale insects 

 found in Florida. In the early stages, the disease attacks 

 the scale much as the Red Fungus does. A mycelium is 

 produced which grows and develops in the body of the in- 

 sect. 



