7 
their larvae, which are also predaceous upon mealybugs, on 
heavily infested fruits; but it is not at all a common occurrence. 
The scale, I believe, is confined strictly to the pineapple plant, 
and has been known for nearly a century and a half. It was 
described first in 1778. While a near relative of the mealybug, 
it is totally dissimilar in appearance. This is owing to the 
peculiar character of its waxy covering. Aside from the fact 
that the body of the real insect is vastly smaller, the secretion 
does not remain fluffy, but hardens and compacts, assuming at 
the same time an almost flat surface and a circular outline. The 
scale is found most commonly on the leaves of the pineapple 
plant. Its young come from eggs, which are hatched beneath the 
scale. They are yellowish white, oval and a fourth of a milli- 
meter long. The eggs of one female number commonly from 
fifty to seventy-five and hatch after five or six days from date of 
extrusion. The newly hatched louse is very small, flat, oval, 
orange-yellow colored and bare of covering, possessing func- 
tional legs so that it is capable of moving off to find a suitable 
location for its future development. When this is found, how- 
ever, it becomes sedentary, developing a tough scale over its soft 
and tender body. Thenceforth its legs are functionless (disap- 
pearing at the first moult) and its powers of locomotion are re- 
stricted. The first scale is very small and consists only of the 
thickened cuticle and some fluffy wax curling upward from the 
margin. Growth proceeds very slowly and is outwardly mani- 
fested by the gradual enlargement of the scale. The skin is 
moulted twice (in the case of the female insect) to accommodate 
the expanding body, and these exuviae are incorporated in the 
waxy material of the scale appearing at the front end. The 
first moult occurs in about 15 days, the second 17 days later; the 
third instar is the longest, occupying usually 25 to 30 days. 
Thus four generations can occur in a twelvemonth. The males 
of this species are quite numerous and are distinguishable after 
the first moult, when this form enters a pupal state, the body 
becoming attenuate to some extent and the waxy portion of the 
test covering it, assuming the same elongate form with three 
prominent longitudal ridges. After twenty-five days the pupa 
transforms into the adult male insect, which emerges from the 
test by a longitudinal rent in its side. In addition to legs and 
antennae this form possesses functional wings and is capable of 
flying. Its powers of flight are very feeble, however, and it is 
oftenest seen crawling over the plant, seeking the females, in 
order to mate with them and give fertility to their eggs. 
The scale insect is often destroyed by internal parasites, par- 
ticularly by species of Aphelinus and by Aspidiotiphagus citrinus, 
and occasionally some one of the scale-feeding Coccinellid or 
ladybird beetles is seen working upon infested plants. 
Now, I have said that the scale and the mealybugs are closely 
related insects. They belong to the same family, namely, Fam. 
