Aug. i, 1921 
Biological Study of Red Date-Palm Scale 661 
to feed. The body becomes greatly distended with sap and assumes 
a rounded elliptical shape, rather shiny and yellowish white in color. 
Fine filaments of “cotton” are given off, first from the lateral glands, 
and before long the entire body is covered with a cottony mass. 
Under this mass the first molt occurs. The cast skin shows a ventral 
split and the exuvia is thrown off dorsad of the new insect (the mouth- 
parts remaining attached) and is incorporated in the posterior end of 
the cottony mass. 
The larva now appears somewhat long, oval, light yellow in color, 
without legs, and with antennae reduced to small tubercles. Feeding 
continues and additional “cotton” is secreted, but the insect enlarges 
so rapidly as to split the cottony mass dorsally and expose the insect. 
The skin becomes very tight before the second molt. 
The second molt is now passed, the cast skin splitting on the ventral 
side but not always completely thrown off, and the rapidly growing 
insect (now an immature adult) spreads it so as to leave it incorporated 
on the upper edges of the old “cotton.” The new insect is nearly round 
but somewhat flattened, 1 to 1.25 mm. in length, wine-red in color, and 
without apparent appendages or segmentation, but the antennae under 
high power are still seen as minute tubercles. The cottony mass formed 
during the immature period forms a nestlike bed for the scale. Embryos 
are soon formed within the body and develop rapidly. With the develop¬ 
ment of the mature scale the wine-red is replaced by a light brown, 
which starts at the margins; and the color changes to a bronze in the old, 
dead scale. No embryos have been found in the bronze-colored scale. 
From field observations it was found that in the cooler part of the year 
the insect passes from larva to a fully matured adult in approximately 
a month, and doubtless in the wanner months this period is greatly 
shortened. As to the life of the scale no definite records have been taken, 
but field observations would indicate that the scale lives from six to nine 
months. This is detennined by the development of the scale on the fruit 
stems and leaf bases which become infested in May but have no dead 
scale on them until late in November. 
MAU3 
Thus far the writer has been unable to discern any distinction as to sex 
in the larva up to the first molt. From the first molt, however, which 
in the male form is similar to that described above, there comes a larva 
similar to but smaller than the female second stage; and from this comes 
the male pupa, which is rather long, yellowish, and with antennse and legs 
folded close to the body. At the third molt the adult male issues, usually 
through the end of the cottony cocoon. It is shaped not unlike a thrips, 
with distinct body segmentation, somewhat club-shaped antennae, rather 
stout legs, and long, narrow, pointed abdomen, but without wings. The 
