COG 



[ 260 ] 



COG 



over a bed of hot fermenting horse-dung. 

 Our drawing represents a female magni- 

 fied, and of its natural size. It is some- 

 what like a woodlouse in form, hut 

 reddish, and covered with a white mealy 

 powder. The male is slender, gnat-like, 

 with two broad wings, and two brush- 

 like filaments behind. The Cottage Gar- 

 dener, v. 157. 



C. vi'tis. Yine scale. It preys upon 

 the stems and branches of the grape 

 Tine, both in the open air and under 

 glass. It seems to be the same species 

 which also attacks, occasionally, the 

 peach, nectarine, and plum. It is, says 

 Mr. Curtis, a longish brown insect, 

 which in old age assumes a blackish 

 brown colour, and becomes hemispheri- 

 cal and wrinkled. The females are 

 shield-like, being convex above, and flat 

 or concave, below ; they are furnished 

 with six small legs, which, when the 

 insect is old, become part of the sub- 

 stance of the body. On the under side 

 of the insect is a sucker, with which it 

 pierces the cuticle of the plants, and ex- 

 tracts their juices. Soon after impreg- 

 nation the female dies, and her body 

 becomes a protection for the eggs, which 

 are covered with long white wool, and 

 sometimes completely envelop the shoots 

 of the vines, or of plants growing under- 

 neath them. Their powers of propaga- 

 tion are immense ; and, where they once 

 become very numerous, they are exceed- 

 ingly difficult to eradicate. This species 

 belongs to the true genus Coccus, cha- 

 racterized by the female having a scale 

 inseparable from her body. While 

 young, both sexes are alike ; but the 

 male larva? produce two- winged insects, 

 with two tail threads. The females 

 have no wings ; and their dead bodies, 

 beneath which the young are sheltered, 

 appear as in the annexed woodcut. 



Whilst the leaves are on the vine, 

 if any species of scale appears on its 

 stem and branches, the least offensive 

 remedy is to paint over the whole with 

 a strong solution of gum arabic or 

 starch ; allow it to remain on for a week, 

 and then wash it off. But the most 

 effectual remedy is to brush them over 

 thoroughly twice, after an interval of a 

 day, with spirit of turpentine. To pre- 

 vent the recurrence of the plague, a 



very effective mode, in autumn, is to 

 scrape away and burn all the rough 

 bark, and then, with a rough brush, to 

 paint over the stem and branches, with 

 a creamy mixture, composed of Ib. of 

 soft soap, 1 Ib. of sulphur, and ^ oz. of 

 black pepper, to four gallons of water ; 

 boil together for twenty minutes, and 

 make it thick enough to adhere to the 

 wood like paint. If it does not, thicken 

 it with lime, adding sufficient soot to 

 take off the glaring white colour of the 

 lime. Gard. Chron., 1842, 840. 



C. hesperidum is found in greenhouses, 

 especially on orange trees. It infests 

 leaves as well as stems. 



C. Iromelice, Pine Apple Scale, infests 

 that fruit, the hibiscus, justitia, $e. 



C. testudo. Turtle Scale. This is 

 found chiefly on stove plants requiring 

 a high temperature. The scale is oval, 

 very convex, and dark brown. They 

 may be all destroyed by the applica- 

 tions recommended against the preceding 

 species. 



A genus of insects closely allied to 

 the Coccus and usually confounded with 

 it, is Aspidiotus; and as all remedial 

 observations applicable to the one are 

 equally applicable to the other, the pre- 

 vailing kinds of it are here enumerated. 



A. nerii, Oleander Scale, is found in 

 our stoves and greenhouses, chiefly on 

 the Oleanders, Palmce, Aloes, and Acacias. 



A: rosce, Rose Scale ; A. echinocacti, 

 Cactus Scale; A., lauri, Sweet Bay 



