BARK-LICE. 



wees of Stockholm,' for the year 1825, under 

 the name of Coccus cryptogumus. This species 

 is of the kind in which the body of the female 

 is not large enough to cover her eggs, for the 

 protection whereof another provision is made, 

 consisting, in this species, of a kind of mem- 

 branous shell, of the colour and consistence 

 almost of paper. In the autumn and through- 

 out the winter, these insects are seen in a dor- 

 mant state, and of two different forms and 

 sizes on the bark of the trees. The larger 

 ones measure less than a tenth of an inch in 

 length, and have the form of a common oyster- 

 shell, being broad at the hinder extremity, but 

 tapering towards the other, which is surmount- 

 ed by a little oval brownish scale. The small 

 ones, which are not much more than half the 

 length of the others, are of a very long oval 

 shape, or almost four-sided with the ends 

 rounded ; and one extremity is covered by a 

 minute oval dark-coloured scale. These little 

 shell-like bodies are clustered together in great 

 numbers, are of a white colour and membran- 

 ous texture, and serve as cocoons to shelter 

 the insects while they are undergoing their 

 transformations. The large ones are the pupa- 

 cases or cocoons of the female, beneath which 

 the eggs are laid ; and the small ones are the 

 cases of the males, and differ from those of the 

 females not only in size and shape, but also in 

 being of a purer white colour, and in having 

 an elevated ridge passing down the middle. 

 The minute oval dark-coloured scales on one 

 of the ends of these white cases are the skins 

 of the lice while they were in the young or 

 larva state, and the white shells are probably 

 formed in the same way as the down which 

 exudes from the bodies of other bark-lice, but 

 which in these assumes a regular shape, vary- 

 ing according to the sex, and becoming mem- 

 branous after it is formed. Not having seen 

 these insects in a living state, I have not been 

 able to trace their progress, and must therefore 

 refer to Dalman's memoir above mentioned, 

 for such particulars as tend to illustrate the 

 remaining history of this species. The body 

 of the female insect, which is covered and 

 concealed by the outer case above described, 

 is minute, of an oval form, wrinkled at the 

 sides, flattened above, and of a reddish colour. 

 By means of her beak, which is constantly 

 thrust into the bark, she imbibes the sap, by 

 which she is nourished ; she undergoes no 

 change, and never emerges from her habita- 

 tion. The male becomes a chrysalis or pupa, 

 and about the middle of July completes its 

 transformations, makes its escape from its 

 case, which it leaves at the hinder extremity, 

 and the wings with which it is provided are 

 reversed over its head during the operation, 

 and are the last to be extricated. The perfect 

 male is nearly as minute as a point, but a 

 powerful magnifier shows its body to be divided 

 into segments, and endued with all the im- 

 portant parts and functions of a living animal. 

 To the unassisted eye, says Dalman, it appears 

 only as a red atom, but it is furnished with a 

 pair of long whitish wings, long antennae or 

 horns, six legs with their respective joints, and 

 two bristles terminating the tail. This minute 

 insect perforates the middle of the case cover- 



BARLEY. 



ing the female, and thus celebrates its nuptials 

 with its invisible partner. The latter subse- 

 quently deposits her eggs and dies. In due 

 time the young are hatched and leave the case, 

 under which they were fostered, by a little 

 crevice at its hinder part. These young lice, 

 which I have seen, are very small, of a pale 

 yellowish brown colour, and of an oval shape, 

 very flat, and appearing like minute scales. 

 They move about for a while, at length become 

 stationary, increase in size, and in due time 

 the whitish shells are produced, and the in- 

 cluded insects pass from the larva to the pupa 

 state. The means for destroying these insects 

 are the same as those recommended for the 

 extermination of the previous species. (See 

 APHIS, THIUPS, &c.) 



"Many years ago, when on a visit from 

 home, I observed on a fine native grape-vine, 

 that was trained against the side of a house, 

 great numbers of reddish brown bark-lice, of a 

 globular form, and about half as large as a 

 small pea, arranged in lines on the stems. An 

 opportunity for further examination of this 

 species did not occur till the last summer, 

 when I was led to the discovery of a few of 

 these lice on my Isabella grape-vines, by see- 

 ing the ants ascending and descending the 

 stems. Upon careful search I discovered the 

 lice, which were nearly the colour of the bark 

 of the vine, partly imbedded in a little crevice 

 of the bark, and arranged one behind another 

 in a line. They drew great quantities of sap, 

 as was apparent by their exudations, by which 

 the ants were attracted. Further observations 

 were arrested by a fire which consumed the 

 house and the vines that were trained to it." 

 (Harris'sTreatise on Insects.) 



BARLEY (Lat. hordeum). A species of 

 bread corn, which in Europe ranks next to 

 wheat in importance, and of which there are 

 several varieties. The generic name seems 

 either hordeum, from horreo, on account of its 

 long awns, or, as it was anciently written, 

 fordeum, rather from ^/2a>, to feed or nourish, 

 whence *0gg and forbea, and, changing the b 

 into d, fordeum. ( Vossius.) The name is, how- 

 ever, derived by Junius from the Hebrew -a. 

 The plant belongs to the natural order Grami- 

 nex, or grasses. It readily accommodates 

 itself to any climate, bearing the heat of the 

 torrid zone, and the cold of the frigid, and 

 ripening in both equally well. Of the genus 

 Hordeum, says Professor Low, the following 

 species may be enumerated as cultivated for 

 their seeds : 



1. Two-rowed barley (Hordeum distichum}. 



2. Two-rowed naked barley (H. Gymnodis- 

 tichum). 



3. Two-rowed sprat, or battledore barley 

 (H. disticho-zeocrifon). PI. 3, d. 



4. Six-rowed winter barley (H. hexasttckum). 



5. Six-rowed naked barley (//. Gymno-hexa- 

 | sfichum}. fu 



6. Six-rowed sprat, or battlebore barley (H 

 hexasticho-zeocriton'). 



The two leading species of this gram in 

 tivation are (No. 1.) the two-rowed, or common 

 barley, and (No. 4.) the six-rowed barley. I iw 



1 39 



