60 Vict. Provincial Board of Horticulture. 23 



This is a very destructive and pernicious insect, which prevails throughout the Northern 



United States and Canada, and in some of the Southern States also. It was introduced from 



_ ct II Europe more than eij!;hty years ago. It appeared in the form of ' minute 



Bark^Louse scales, about one-sixth of an inch long, of a brownish or greyish colour, 



closely resembling that of the bark of a tree, and somewhat like the shell of 



an oyster in shape, adhering to the surface of the bark, and placed irregularly, most of them 



lengthwise of the limb or twig, with the smaller end upwards. In some instances the branches 



of apple trees may be found literally covered and crowded with these scales ; and where thus 



so prevalent they seriously impair the health and vigour of the tree, and sometimes cause its 



death. 



Under each of these scales will be found masses of eggs varying in number from fifteen 

 or twenty to one hundred or more. These during the vifinter or early spring will be found to 

 be white in colour, but before hatching they change to a yellowish hue, soon after which the 

 young insects appear. This usually occurs late in May or early in June, and if the weather is cool 

 the young lice will remain several days under the scales before dispersing over the tree. As it 

 becomes warmer, they leave their shelter and may be seen running all over the twigs looking 

 for suitable locations to which to attach themselves. Their actual length being only about one- 

 hundredth (of an inch), to the unaided eye they appear as mere specks. When highly magnified, 

 they appear as at 2. A large proportion of them soon become fixed around the base of the 

 side shoots of the terminal twigs, where, inserting their tiny sharp beaks, they subsist upon 

 the sap of the tree. In a few days a fringe of delicate waxy threads issues from their bodies, 

 as at 3. Gradually the insect assumes the form shown at 4. 5 and 6 pre- 

 Description and ggj^^ ^jjg jarvse as nearly full-grown, and when detached from the scale, before 

 the end of the season the louse has secreted for itself the scaly covering in 

 which it lives and matures, shown at 7. 8 represents one of the antennae of the young lice 

 1 shows the egg highly magnified. 



By the middle of August this female louse has become little else than a bag of eggs, and 

 the process of depositing these now begins, the body of the parent shrinking day by day, until 

 finally, when this work is completed, it becomes a mere atom at the narrow end of the scale 

 and is scarcely noticeable. 



The scales of the male louse are seldom seen ; they are most frequently found upon the 

 leaves, both on the upper and under sides ; they are smaller in size than those of the female 

 and different also in shape. 



In the orchard and its immediate neighbourhood it may be spread by being carried on the 

 feet of birds, or attached to the larger insects, or may be aided by the wind in passing from 

 tree to tree, while it is itself so brisk in its active state that it can travel two or three inches 

 in a minute, and hence might in this way reach a point two or three rods distant before it 

 would perish. Although this insect essentially belongs to the apple tree.it is frequently found' 

 on the pear, and sometimes on the plum. 



During the winter the trees should be examined and the scales scraped off, and the trees 

 sprayed with No. 1 spraying mixture, and thus a large proportion of the insects may be 

 destroyed. Still, it is almost impossible to cleanse the trees entirely in this way, especially 

 the smaller branches, and hence the insect should be fought also at the time when the eggs are 

 hatching and the young lice crawling over the limbs, as then they are tender and easily killed. 

 With this object in view, the time of hatching of the remnants left after the winter or spring 

 scraping should be watched, and while the young larvse are active the twigs should be brushed 

 with a strong solution of soft soap and washing soda, or sprayed with the resin wash. Spray 

 No. 7. 



As this scale {Lecanium armeniacum) has been found on two or three occasions in the 



Province, and will feed upon other deciduous trees, aa well as the apricot, it should be looked 



out for by fruit-growers. The scale is boat-shaped, when matured somewhat 



Brown Apricot -wrinkled. The colour is a shiny brown, darker in the centre than at the 



*^^ ' edges. It hatches from eggs during May and June. The treatment advised 



for the Oyster Shell Scale should be followed in dealing with this pest. 



