ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



93 



The San Jose scale : We now come to the scale insects, and 

 of these the San Jose scale, Aspidiotus periiiciosus, is by far the 

 most injurious. The cut shows you the appearance of a tree 

 infested with it. This is a most interesting insect. The spots 

 as shown in the picture simply mark the places where the scales 

 are situated. The insect itself is underneath the spot or cover- 

 ing. If we lift up one of these coverings the insect can be 

 seen though it is exceedingly small. The insect itself secretes 



Fig. II.— Plum Twigs nearly coated over by San Jos6 Scale. Natural 

 size. Appearance of Infested Twigs. 



a wax-like substance which make these coverings and we find 

 that the scale is attached to the bark by very slender hair-like 

 appendages on the under side. These form the mouth parts or 

 sucking tube. An interesting thing about these scales is that 

 they are not hatched from eggs like many insects but they are 

 born alive. The young scales after being born crawl about 

 for a few hours until they find a suitable place to settle. As 

 soon as the young scale has settled in a satisfactory place, it 

 begins to pick out slender wax-like filaments from its back. 

 After a few davs it molts and these filaments unite with the 



