A FEW INSECT ENEMIES OF THE ORCHARD. 
Clarence P. Gillette, M. S. 
SCALK LICE. 
Colorado fruit growers may well congratulate themselves 
that no serious outbreak of scale insects has ever occurred in 
the orchards of the state, and also, that the San Jose scale 
has not yet been found in Colorado. But, while congratulating 
ourselves thus, we must not fail to take care of the few species 
of scale lice that are known to be present in limited localities 
and to take every precaution against introducing others from 
abroad. 
HABITS AND APPEARANCE OF SCALE LICE IN GENERAL. 
Scale lice are so called because they secrete over them- 
selves, for protection, a thin, horny covering or scale. If one 
examines these scales in the fall or winter he usually finds them 
filled with minute eggs. These eggs hatch early in the spring, 
and the minute, wingless lice that come from them crawl about 
over the tree for a few days and then insert their beaks into 
the bark, fruit or leaves and begin to draw the sap and to 
grow. Once located, the lice of most species never move again. 
The scale soon begins to form for protection and increases in 
size with the growth of the louse underneath. 
These scales usually imitate the bark of the tree very closely 
in color, so that they are often unnoticed until the tree is nearly 
or quite dead. A close observer will notice, however, that the 
bark of the tree appears rough and scaly, and that the tree lacks 
vigor. 
HOW THE LICE ARE SPREAD. 
It ma}’ seem strange that so minute a creature without 
wings, and one that is able to run only for a few days, can dis- 
tribute itself so rapidly and be so difficult to exterminate. 
