THE ARGENTINE ANT IN RELATION TO CITRUS GROVES. 21 
The black scale (Saissetia oleae Bern.) apparently was first noted 
in Louisiana in 1910, when it was taken upon certain plants in 
Audubon Park, New Orleans, by Barber. 1 It occurs commonly on 
oleander in many places about the city, but not a single specimen 
has been found in the orange groves. 
The fluted scale (Icerya pitrchasi Mask.), according to Mr. Ed. 
Foster, who for many years has been an enthusiastic and discerning 
observer of insect life about New Orleans, occurred in places near 
present spots of infestation in and near that city as early as 1891, 
and this is confirmed by the statements of certain nurserymen and 
growers. It now occurs in many yards in the uptown districts of the 
city and in several nurseries, but has not been discovered in the 
orange groves. 
The Ant as a Protector of Soft Scales, 
influence of the ant on abundance of mealybugs on citrus in louisiana. 
It was not possible to find sufficiently heavy infestations of mealy- 
bugs in the orange orchards of Louisiana during the years 1913 to 
1915 to make experiments to determine the relative increase on ant- 
infested as compared with ant-free trees. Even in orchards overrun 
with ants the mealybug infestations were scattering and did not per- 
sist long enough to permit the desired experiments and observations 
to be made. The nonimportance of the mealybug as a pest in the 
orange groves of the State, however, seemed to make it unnecessary 
to conduct special experiments on them. Nevertheless, mealybugs 
were fairly abundant on fig trees in the laboratory grounds in New 
Orleans, and experiments of this nature were conducted on these 
trees and also on vigorous young orange trees, which were especially 
colonized with mealybugs for this purpose. The ants first began 
to frequent the fig trees in large numbers early in April, at which 
time mealybugs were rare and could be found only in small numbers 
in the most hidden places, such as old wounds, under dead bark, etc. 
On April 27 several groups of mealybugs which still occurred only 
in hidden places on the trunks and larger branches of the fig were 
transferred to each of two orange trees. By May 7 they had settled 
themselves permanently on the trees. Thereafter ants were excluded 
from one of the trees; in the case of the other, in addition to the 
ants patrolling it from the ground, a large colony, including 25 
queens and many eggs and young, was transferred to the soil in 
the pot, where the ants took up their abode near the base of the tree. 
Observations were made at frequent intervals. The number of sound 
and parasitized mealybugs was counted and notes made on the 
1 Barber, T. C. The Coccidae of Audubon Park, New Orleans, La. In Jour. Econ. Ent.- 
v. 3, p. 424. 1910. 
