SCALE INSECTS OF IMPORTANCE 30I 



Description. Sometimes this insect occurs in thick, matted, dirty 

 masses, and then the form of the individuals is much obscured. There 

 is usually some place on the infested plant where the females are some- 

 what isolated and have the general appearance represented in figure 7, 

 which shows a group of females with two males in the lower right hand 

 corner. A closer examination of one scale will reveal the details illus- 

 trated in figure 4. The female scale consists of a very small yellowish 

 pellicle (usually two are present), a larger dark scale and a very much 

 larger, irregularly shaped, whitish scale. Figure i shows this structure m 

 greater detail. The male scales are elongated, with a small yellowish 

 pellicle and a much larger, tricarinate white scale, as represented some- 

 what enlarged in figure 8 and much more so in figure 6. A rupture of a 

 female scale in the fall or winter reveals the purplish eggs beneath (fig. i), 

 and, when one is turned over, the shrunken body of the parent and the 

 mass of eggs is exposed (fig. 5). The active, reddish young is represented 

 in figure 2, and the partly grown individuals, showing the yellowish pelli- 

 cle and the dark smaller scale, in figure 3. The full-grown female, as 

 she appears under the scale before egg deposition begins, is represented 

 in figure 9. 



The male was not reared, and, as a matter of fact, it is rarely ob- 

 served. Prof, Comstock's description of this form is as follows : 



Yellow marked, with irregular reddish-brown spots; thoracic band 

 reddish brown, sometimes darker than the other markings. Length of body 

 including style, .62 mm (.02 inch) ; length of style, .18 mm (.006 inch). 

 On each side of the anterior part of the thorax there is a black spot which 

 resembles an eye. 



The accompanying illustration of the male and its pupa will aid 

 greatly in its recognition. 



Life history. The development of this species is very nearly the 

 same as that of the preceding form. The winter is passed in the egg 

 underneath the protecting scale of the female. The young appear in this 

 latitude about the same time as do those of M y t i 1 a s p i s p o m o r u m , 

 viz fiom about the middle to the last of May. They soon establish 

 themselves at favorable points on the bark of the trunk and branches and 

 begin drawing sustenance from the underlying tissues through the deli- 

 cate, thread-like haustellum or beak. Occasionally the young may estab- 

 lish themselves in some numbers on fruit. Such a case was brought to 

 notice this season. The insects were at the blossom and stem ends ot 

 the apples and each was surrounded by an irregular, reddish area. A 

 considerable proportion of the fruit was infested in one orchard in 



