24 INSECTS AFFECTING THE ORANGE. 



their length by a stout .vein, placed very near the margin, and having a 

 short spur or branch at or near the end of the vein. The front wings 

 are broader outwards and rounded at the tips. The hind wings are nar- 

 row and more pointed at the ends. The antennas are elbowed, and 

 clubbed at the ends ; they arise from the anterior face of the head, in 

 front of the eyes. 



In Aphelinus fuscipennis Howard 1 , the general color is yellow, with a 

 black band across the head behind the eyes, and several dusky bands 

 upon the body. The wings are clouded with patches of smoky brown. 

 Length, 0.6 ram ( T J 5 inch). 



Apliycus flavus Howard, is uniformly yellow in color, with clear 

 wings. Length, 1.2 mm , (yfo- inch). 



Under the name Aphelinus aspidioticola, Mr. Ashmead (Orange In- 

 sects, page 7) describes another parasite of the Long Scale, which has 

 a reddish brown or dusky body, yellowish legs, and clear wings. It is 

 T -^ inch in length. According to Mr. Howard, this insect is not an 

 Aphelinus, but belongs to an unknown genus of another family. 



These parasites attack the female Long Scale insect about the time of 

 her impregnation, and their egg is deposited, not simply beneath the 

 scale, or, as some writers have affirmed, among the eggs of the Coccid, 

 but within the body of the Coccid itself. The presence of the parasite 

 within her body destroys the fecundity of the Scale-insect and she 

 finally dies without reproducing her kind. 



So effective are the attacks of these internal enemies, that not less 

 than 25 per cent, of the scales are destroyed by them, and at times their 

 numbers increase to such an extent that colonies of Long Scale are 

 reduced almost to extermination. 



Observations made at various seasons of the year indicate a greater 

 abundance of the parasites in fall and winter, but they are unfailing 

 attendants upon every brood of the Scale-insect. The result of twenty- 

 five detailed examinations in early spring gives an average of 76 per 

 cent, of the scales destroyed by Hymenopterous parasites. Ten exam- 

 inations during the summer months give an average of 35 per cent., or 

 one-half that of spring. Fifteen observations in autumn and the be- 

 ginning of winter give an average of 40 per cent, of scales parasitized. 



The activity of these insects is not perceptibly diminished by cool 

 weather, which on the other hand greatly retards the development of 

 the Scale insect. It is not therefore surprising that three-quarters of 

 the winter brood perish from the attacks of these enemies. 



Geographical Distribution. First appearance in the United States. The 

 Long Scale is supposed to have originated in China, and to have spread 

 tHence to the orange groves of southern Europe and the United States. 

 According to one authority* it made its appearance in Florida in 1838 1 



* Brown's " Trees of America," cited by Glover, Kept. Commissioner Patents for 

 1855, Agriculture, p. 117. See also Report for 1858, p. 266. 

 t Ashmead (Orange Insects, p. 1) gives the date 1835. 



