THE CITRUS WHITE FLY i LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. 79 
never breed, that the belief has received such an unfortunately wide 
circulation among orange growers that the citrus white fly breeds on 
all kinds of hammock trees, shrubs, and grasses. Regardless of the 
food plant, the adults feed almost exclusively upon the under surface 
of the leaves, more rarely upon the fruit, and never upon the woody 
portions of the tree. When new growth is very young and the leaves 
have not expanded, adults often feed upon both surfaces of the leaf, 
the petiole, and even the tender shoots, but this lasts only for a short 
time. At all seasons the newest growth is preferred, as indicated 
by the data under the caption of the relation of food supply to ovipo- 
sition, and the portion of the plant selected coincides with that 
already discussed for oviposition. It should be noted here that the 
decided preference of the adults for the new growth has a checking 
effect, as noted elsewhere, upon multiplication, as they are entirely 
lacking in instincts preventing over-oviposition 
Multiplication . 
The relation of multiplication to food supply and the restrictions 
upon multiplication due to overcrowding, natural mortality, drop- 
ping of leaves after freezes, parthenogenesis, and attacks by insects 
and other predaceous enemies and fungi will be found treated else- 
where. It has been estimated that not more than 5 per cent, at the 
most, of the eggs deposited throughout the State result in the develop- 
ment of mature insects. If each female deposited her full number 
of eggs and all the forms lived, it has been estimated, the progeny of 
a single pair of white flies emerging in January would amount to 
about 55,000,000,000 in one year. 
