The Gloomy Scale 
5 
the way of mechanical injuries to trunk, limbs and roots. In spite of 
these advantages the soft maples have certain disadvantages in addition 
to the fact that they are attacked by the gloomy scale. The chief one is 
that the wood is especially brittle and apt to be broken during storms. 
COMMON NAMES 
So far as the writer is aware, only two common names have ever been 
used for this species. Comstock (1881), in his original description, 
proposed the name Gloomy Scale, and this name has been rather gen¬ 
erally used ever since. The name Maple Scale has been used to a cer¬ 
tain extent, hut since that name does not distinguish this scale from other 
scales on maple, it is hardly advisable to use it. The name gloomy scale 
has also been used for another species, Chrysomphalus obscums Comst., 
which occurs more commonly on oaks. This latter species was named 
obscure scale by Comstock, and this name should be retained, or the two 
species should be called the gloomy maple scale and the gloomy oak 
scale. The latter alternative is hardly advisable, for Chrysomphalus 
tenebricosus frequently occurs on oaks as well as maples, while Chrysom¬ 
phalus obscurus often occurs on maples as well as oaks. The name 
gloomy scale is appropriate because the scale covering of the insect is 
very dark in color. With these things in mind, and the further fact that 
the name gloomy scale was originally proposed for Chrysomphalus tene¬ 
bricosus, the name gloomy scale is retained for this species in this 
bulletin. 
HISTORY AND SYNONOMY 
This species was originally described by Comstock (1881) in the re¬ 
port of the United States Commissioner of Agriculture for 1880, as 
Aspidiotus tenebricosus, in 1897 Cockerell (1897) suggested that this 
species would fall in Ashmead s genus Chrysomphalus tieated by Cock¬ 
erell as a sub-genus of Aspidiotus. American writers have generally re¬ 
ferred it to this genus, but Leonardi (1889) placed this species in his 
genus Aonidiella. Herrick (1911) has recently suggested that this 
species should be placed in the genus Aonidiella until the matter has 
been definitely settled by entomologists. The writer follows the. usual 
custom among American entomologists and places this species m 
Chrysomphalus Ashmead. 
The synonomy of the species would, therefore, be as follows: 
Aspidiotus tenebricosus, Comstock 1881. 
Aspidiotus (Chrysomphalus) tenebricosus, Cockerell 1897. 
Aonidiella tenebricosus, Leonardi 1899. 
Chrysomphalus tenebricosus, Fernald 190o. 
Chrysomphalus (Aonidiella) tenebricosus, Herrick 1911. 
