180 



flat or concave below ; they are furnished with six 

 small legSj which, when the insect is old, become part 

 of the substance of the body. On the under side of 

 the insect is a sucker, with which it pierces the cuti- 

 cle of the plants, and extracts their juices. Soon 

 after impregnation the female dies, and her body be- 

 comes a protection for the eggs, which are covered 

 with long white wool, and sometimes completely en- 

 velope the shoots of the vines, or of plants, growing 

 underneath them. The males are furnished with 

 four wings, and are apterous. Their powers of pro- 

 pagation are immense ; and, where 

 they once become very numerous, 

 they are exceedingly difficult to era- 

 dicate. This species belongs to the 

 true genus Coccus, characterised by 

 the female having a scale inseparable 

 from her body. When young, both 

 sexes are alike, but the male larvae 

 produce two-winged insects, with two 

 tail threads. The females have no 

 wings, and their dead bodies, beneath 

 which the young are sheltered, appear 

 as in the annexed woodcut. {John- 

 son and Erring ton on the Grape 

 Vine, ii. 136.) 



This is decidedly one of the greatest pests in the 

 peach-house, but, if the trees are painted over every 



