ENEMIES, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 87 



becomes more globular in form and the top takes on a brown tint. 



The insect, which is pale yellow, and looks under the 

 microscope like a wood-louse, crawls about for a few days, then 

 strikes its beak into the bark, and the waxy scale begins to 

 form. This completed, the eggs are laid, over one hundred in 

 number. 



Mr. Ashmead, in his work already referred to, makes a 

 calculation of the progeny of one of these scale insects, for 

 one season, and it amounts to the frightful total of one million. 



If it were not for that Providence which is ever watching 

 and planning for man's welfare, his fight against the spread of 

 these destructive insects would be an almost hopeless one ; but 

 he is not left to battle single-handed. Even the most minute 

 insects have their relentless " war of races," and thus the scale 

 insects have enemies, who, had they happily been imported 

 into our country at the same time, would never have allowed 

 them to spread far and wide and create the panic they did 

 among orange growers. 



Chief among these staunch friends of the orange tree, are 

 the orange scale aphelinus, the twice-stabbed lady-bug, minute 

 scymnus, red mite and orange chrysopa. 



The first-named, the orange scale Apelinus, is a four-winged 

 fly, about 0.2 of an inch long ; it lays one egg under each scale 

 among the eggs of its foe, and as soon as the larva, which is a 

 white footless grub, is hatched, it begins to feed on the latter, _ 

 changing into its pupa state only when the last egg is gone ; a 

 few days later it punctures the top of the scale, and emerges in 

 its perfect fly-shape. 



The next of our good friends, being more noticeable, is ofteUj, 

 alas! ruthlessly slaughtered for an enemy by those who, if they 

 knew its true character, would carefully protect it. From Feb- 

 ruary to November in this State one O^ten sees a little round, dark 

 bug with two red spots on its wings, and also a dark slate-colored 

 larva, crawling among the orange trees. They are one and the 

 same insect, the twice-stabbed lady bug, and it is so valuable a 

 friend to the orange grower, as to be worthy of importation to 

 any grove where they have not voluntarily settled. 



