150 DATE GROWING 



If the scale is lifted by means of a pin or the point of a 

 knife, the soft, plump and juicy female, of a rose- 

 pink color, is found underneath. She is feebly 

 segmented, without legs or any other conspicuous 

 organs except a structure at the middle of the anterior 

 end, which is the mouth, from which in the living 

 insect protrudes the tube through which the sap of 

 the plant is sucked. The male scales, which are 

 rarely seen, are much narrower and smaller than those 

 of the female. About the middle of March the 

 female begins to lay eggs, which will be found as 

 minute, oval objects underneath the scale at the 

 posterior end. Only a few are produced at a time 

 and the total number is small as compared with that 

 of most scale insects. The larvae begin to hatch 

 from the egg, one at a time, about April 1. These 

 are very minute creatures, of a pink color, with legs 

 and antennae. They crawl restlessly about for some 

 time, and then settle down in some place where they 

 remain for the rest of their lives. The male, hatch- 

 ing from the male scales, impregnates the female and 

 dies, his whole life being probably very brief. 



Treatment of the scale by burning was introduced 

 by the University of Arizona Experiment Station, 

 and has since been followed. All the leaves of an 

 infected specimen are cut closely back, and the 

 trunk is then gone over with a gasoline blow-torch. 

 This eradicates the scale, but the palm requires a 

 year or two to recover from the shock and return to 

 normal condition; it is, therefore, not a remedy which 

 appeals to the commercial date grower. 



In California a cresol dip is now used on all 

 offshoots, and it is also used as a spray for older 

 palms. This destroys the scale so that no danger 



