126 TIMBERS AND THEIR USES 



than the Mussel Scale, Lepidosaphes ulmi, so 

 called because the insect strongly resembles a 

 miniature mussel. On Mountain Ash, Hawthorn. 

 Apple, Plum, and Pear this scale is most plenti- 

 ful. Crowded closely on the bark, the female 

 scales may easily be observed with a pocket lens. 

 Towards late summer the females, which are 

 hidden and protected by their mussel-shaped 

 scales, deposit their minute white eggs. During 

 the whole of the winter they remain beneath the 

 parent scale to hatch in late spring. The larvse 

 are active, six-legged creatures, which wander 

 over the bark of the tree seeking a spot where 

 they may spend the remainder of their Uves. 

 After a series of larval moults they settle down, 

 dig their sharp -pointed beaks, which form at 

 once anchor and feeding tube, deep into the 

 plant tissues and suck nourishment therefrom. 

 They have now become stationary and they 

 rapidly secrete a scale as a protection against 

 the elements and their enemies. The males of 

 this species are very rare. 



The Willow Scale, Ghionaspis salicis, is very 

 similar in habits and life history to the Mussel 

 Scale. It is a common insect and mainly attacks 

 Willows and Ash. An even commoner insect 

 is the Brown Scale, Lecanium caprece, a pest of 

 Willow, Alder, Elm, Oak, Sycamore, Apple, 

 Lime, Horse Chestnut and Hawthorn. 



