THE OLIVE 



107 



borer. The feet are short and robust, and the head is of a light 

 o-reen color. 



The Psvlla counts two generations which succeed each other in 

 the spring, during the evolution of the blossoms. At the com- 

 mencement of the warm season some of the insects die, while others 

 of both sexes remain through the summer. During the autumn 

 and winter they seek shelter on the under part of the leaves, or 

 stalks of the tender shoots, and shield themselves there as best they 

 may from the storms. 



As soon as the olive blossoms in the spring, the mating of the 

 Psvlla takes place, and the female deposits her eggs on the flowering 

 branches, enveloping them with a cottony material. The larvae 

 .soon appear, separating themselves at once from the cottony cover- 

 ing, and attacking the blossoms from which they draw their 

 aliment. In twenty days from hatching, they transform themselves 

 into perfect insects. In the warmer localities the Psvlla appears 

 about the middle of April, but in very forward seasons it frequently 

 happens that the second generation is at work by the last of that 

 month. The Psylla of the first generation commence the work 

 of propagation at once by attacking fresh branches, and continuing 

 without stoppage, till the first of July. A part of the insects then 

 die, whilst others survive until the succeeding spring. The larva 

 and the chrysalis prefer remaining in the same place; when 

 molested they move with difficulty, and even the insect when dis- 

 turbed will neither hop nor fly with much agility. 



This insect nourishes itself by sucking the honey of the blossoms. 



The blossoms attacked by it either wither away, or are slow of 

 development, and produce few olives, and these few of a poor quality. 



The early spring rains, if followed by high winds, have a ten- 

 dency to dislodge the cottony substance containing the eggs or 

 larvae, and many of them perish in this way, but the radical 

 remedy for their distinction is to cut away the infected branches, 

 although this method is both difficult and costly. All branches 



