FLORIDA STATE FrOTTriCULTURAL SOCIETY. 
7T 
undertook to spread and encourage the 
same. 
The several fungi parasitic upon scale 
insects in Florida are the Red-headed 
Scale Fungus (Sphaerostilbe coccophila), 
the Gray-headed Scale Fungus (Ophi- 
onectra coccicola), and the Black Scale 
Fungus (Myriangium durii ). 
Several insect friends have also heen ac¬ 
tive in keeping the scales oif orange trees 
in check. Among these insect friends are 
several species of lady-bugs (beetles), the 
larvae of lace-'winged flies (Chrysopidae), 
the larvae of the Hemerobians (Hemero- 
biidae), related to the lace-winged flies, 
and perhaps several fly-like parasites be¬ 
longing to the Hymenoptera. The efli- 
ciency of all these fungoid and insect 
friends is so great that many citrus grow¬ 
ers as well as some others have learned to 
depend upon them altogether. 
FUNGOUS ENEMIES OF SAN JOSE SCALE 
IN FLORIDA. 
The remarkable mortality among the 
San Jose Scale some ten years ago near 
DeFuniak w'as discovered by Professor P. 
H. Rolfs. (Bull. 41), to be due to the red¬ 
headed scale fungus, already mentioned. 
About two years ago Mr. F. P. Hender¬ 
son, of Arno, Florida, introduced some 
of this fungus intO' his peach orchard, and 
later discovered that the scale had been 
killed to such an extent as to amount to 
its control, if not its eradication. Based 
upon this extraordinary success in his own 
orchard, Mr. Henderson succeeded in con¬ 
vincing the Gainesville Orchard Company 
and the Grifling Bros. Company to intro¬ 
duce this fungus into the peach orchard 
of the former near Gainesville, and into 
the five-hundred-acre orchard of the lat¬ 
ter at Komoko. Mr. Henderson collected 
the fungus necessary for this work in 
great part from oak trees, upon 
which it frequently occurs in great abun¬ 
dance, growing upon the obscure scale 
{Aspidiotus ohsciinis). Judging from in¬ 
spections made last February iit these or¬ 
chards by Prof. H. S. Fawcett and the 
writer, 95 per cent, to, 99 per cent, of the 
scale was dead at the time of inspection. 
The black scale fungus (Myriangium 
durii) has also' been instrumental in re¬ 
ducing the amount of scale in these or¬ 
chards, and Mr. Henderson has stated, if 
I recall rightly, that he finds more of this 
black fungus in his orchard at Arno than 
of the red. Which one of the two fungi in 
question has been the most effective in 
these orchards we have not at present 
been able to decide. 
OTHER ATTEMPTS AT CONTROL BY 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
Not a few successful and unsuccessful 
attempts have been made along this line 
with other insects. The most notable of 
these has been the attempt to control the 
increase of the chinchbug in several of 
the States by means of a fungus disease of 
this insect. The introduction of the Aus- 
tralian lady-bug to control the cottony 
cushion scale, orginally introduced into 
California, is too well known to need anv- 
thing more than more mention. The 
former has not been a complete success, 
and I believe has been generally aban¬ 
doned, while the latter appears to have 
been an unqualified success. The failure 
of the former is due to the general lack 
of favorable moisture conditions neces¬ 
sary for the rapid development of this 
fungus at the time when the chinchbug is 
most destructive. Whenev'er the condi¬ 
tions of moisture were favorable, the 
