550 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
APRICOT PESTS 
The apricot is not the particular host 
of a large number of insects. In general 
its enemies are those common to other 
fruit trees of the same family. 
Black Scale 
Saissetia oleae Bern. 
General Appearance 
Black, oval, tough-skinned scales with 
a distinct “H” on the back of half and 
full grown females. From one-eighth to 
one-fourth of an inch in diameter. The 
Fig. 1. Full Grown Specimens of Black Scale, 
Sdissetia oleae (Bern.), at base of nightshade 
plant. Many of these were under the sur- 
face of the soil. (Essig, P. C. Jr. Ent.) 
young vary from light yellow to brown. 
The males are very minute and scarcely 
ever seen. The eggs are nearly globular 
and slightly amber in color. 
Life History 
The females deposit from 50 to 300 eggs, 
covering a period of from two to four 
weeks. The most are laid during the 
months of May, June and first half of 
July, though in some sections all stages 
of the insect may be found. Young half- 
grown scales are most abundant from 
September 15th to December 15th and the 
full-grown females from February 15th to 
July 15th. They work principally upon 
the leaves of the trees, when they are 
young, but later are found almost wholly 
on the limbs. 
Food Plants 
All citrus trees, olive, apricot, guava, 
honey locust, Irish juniper, pomegranate, 
Lombardy poplar, apple, prune, plum, al- 
mond, pear, sycamore, oleander, pepper 
(Schinus molle), sumach, (Rhus), moun- 
tain holly or Christmas berry (Hetero- 
meles arbutifolia), Baccharis viminea, 
rubber tree, Habrothamnus, Myoporum, 
Melaleuca, laurel, holly, beech, ash, buck- 
thorn, maple, Grevillea, Ligustrum, night- 
Shade, Antidesma, Duranta, Grewia, The- 
spesia, Cajanus, magnolia, eucalyptus, 
grape, camellia, phlox, watermelon and 
asters. 
Control 
Fumigation: On citrus trees fumigate 
with from one-half to three-fourths sched- 
ule No. 1, between September ist and 
January ist. If the hatch is very even 
and the work can be done early, the one- 
haif schedule is sufficient, but for ordi- 
nary work three-fourths of the schedule 
is required. 
Sprays: On deciduous fruit and olive 
trees the following sprays may be used 
when the scales are not more than half 
grown: Water distillate caustic soda 
mechanical mixture and distillate emul- 
sion. 
Natural Enemies 
The ladybird beetles, Rhizobius ven- 
tralis, steel blue (Orcus chalybeus), Olla 
plagiata and Axion plagiatus work on the 
young scales; the parasites, Scutellista 
cyanea and Tomocera californica Haw., on 
the eggs and the internal parasite, Aphy- 
cus flavus How., on the male scale. 
E. O. Essia 
Common Termite 
Termes lucifugus Rossi. 
General Appearance 
The workers of this species are rather 
small, being shown as natural size in Fig. 
1. They are transparently white in color, 
the contents of the alimentary canal giv- 
