FKUIT ENEMIES. 281 



Brown Currant Scale (Lecanium persicae var. saro- 

 thamni). This insect infests the Currant and Gooseberry, 

 as well as several kinds of shrubs. The female scales are 

 yellowish-brown in colour, hemispherical in shape, and 

 about |in. long. The former lays a large number of 

 minute eggs, which give birth to oval-shaped larvae, that, 

 during the earlier stage of their existence, wander about 

 the bushes until they have found suitable positions on the 



Fig. 130. GOOSEBERRY AND CURRANT SAWFLY (NEMATIS RIBESII). 



Above is the Sawfly with lines below to indicate its size. Below are the 

 larvse feeding on a leaf, with a cocoon at the side. 



young shoots to settle down permanently. They then 

 pierce the bark, and by means of their beak-like mouths 

 suck out the sap from the shoots, causing the latter to 

 be stunted in growth and sickly. There are at least two 

 broods of this pest in a year. Spraying the bushes in 

 January with a caustic alkali wash is the best way of 

 getting rid of this pest. (Fig. 131.) 



