Section 11. 
INSECT PESTS. 
zy A ERNS are liable to attack from various insect 
; pests. The following are the most common: 
Scale, Th:. s, Green-fly, Black-fly, White-fly, 
Mealy-bug, Cockroaches, Crickets, Woodlice, 
Slugs, Snails, and Caterpillars. 
Whenever any of these make their appearance means 
should at once he taken to destroy them. If neglected 
they quickly multiply, and become much more difficult 
to eradicate. 
Scale, Thrips, Green-fly, Black-fly, White-fly, and 
Mealy-bug injure the plants by piercing the fronds and 
sucking out the sap which should support the plant. 
Cockroaches, Crickets, Woodlice, Slugs, and Snails eat 
off the young fronds just as they are rising ; Slugs are not 
content with this, but mutilate older fronds; Caterpillars 
feed upon the developed fronds, sometimes making 
terrible havoc. 
Several kinds of Scale infest Ferns, the commonest 
being the brown and the white. They attach themselves 
to the fronds, and have the appearance of small protuber- 
ances, brown and hard, or white. When the young 
emerge from their coverings they are white ; they creep 
along the fronds in large numbers, eventually attaching 
themselves to a spot where they remain stationary, and 
proceed to reproduce themselves, meanwhile feeding upon 
the plant. 
