254 INSECT ENEMIES OF THE FLOWER GARDEN 



are very efficient in holding both of these pests in check. Figures 



255 and 256 illustrate the male and female of this species. 



The Greedy Scale (Aspidiotus rapax Comst.). The female 

 scale is one-sixteenth of an inch long, quite convex, and of a 

 grayish color. The insect beneath the scale is bright yellow. 

 Yellow eggs are found under the mature female, from which yel- 

 lowish larvae soon hatch. These larvae are extremely small at 

 the time of hatching, one one-hundredth of an inch in length. 



FIG. 257. The white scale. 



For a time they are able to crawl about, but soon settle and, 

 after secreting a scale from their bodies, lose the power of locomo- 

 tion. The females remain stationary; winged males emerge from 

 the male scales, fertilizing the females, which deposit several 

 hundred eggs or give birth to living young. This scale is nearly 

 cosmopolitan in range, but is seldom very troublesome. 



The Common White Scale (Aspidiotus nerii Bouche). This 

 is a flat, whitish or grayish scale about one-tenth of an inch in 

 diameter when mature. The male scale is smaller than the female 

 and slightly elongated. It is white, tinged with yellow, one 



