Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-30

An Insect Immigrant That is Saving
Caiifornia's Orange Industry.

An chronological romance! You never heard
| of such thing. perhaps. And yet the bug
| bureau in the Department of Agriculture has
| one to tell. Just listen, and see if you do not
find it awfully interesting.
For some years past" said Mr.. Howard of
| the bureau yesterday, 1.-The great orange in
dustry of California has been threatened with
destruction by an insect that sticks its beak
into the tree bark and sucks the vital sap, CIV
ing forth sort of emulation which has pro-
cured for the pest the name of white scale 1t
attacks not only oranges and lemons, but all
the citrus tribe, trees of many other kinds and
even weeds. hence the hopelessness of the COM
plant since, though the fruit trees were
cleansed of it, the scale would immed iately in
fest an orchard again from neighboring plants
or grasses. So bad was it in California that
orange growers there within year have been
digging up their orchards and going into other
sorts of farming. Twelve months ago it looked
seriously as though the state would shortly
cease altogether to produce oranges. 1t was
high time that somethingshould be DONE"
A PARASITE OF THE SCALE.
"And what was done?7 asked The STAR re-
porter, interested.
something entirelp new to science and hui
man knowledge. 1t was noticed that when the
to be GIN with, the acacia tree, imported from
Australia. Naturally, the inference was that
the scale had come from Australia with the
acacia, and the most distinguished entomolo-
gists of the island continent were written to
about the matter. They all said that the white
scale was plentiful in Australia, but that it
did not amount to pest. The orange orchards
were attacked by it, but did not suffer. Why?
OF course, there must be some good reason for
this, and to an entomologist 1T was very plain.
IL, Ia 1.a ln1
enemy that preyed upon it and kept it down;
and this enemy had not been imported with
the scale Itself into California May be, being
more delicate than the scale insect, it had not
survived the voyage. So much having been
determined. the next thing was to find the
enemy. The Australian entomologists were
asked about it, but they all said that they had
never heard of such thing, one expert.
This man replied that he had found very small
fiv that was a parasite of the white scale.
Eureka!"
THE LADYBIRD BEETLE.
'.Do tell" echoed the newspaper man.
$50 then we sent an expert of our own from
this bureau to Australia, who made study of
the scale in that country and found the fly as
represented. 1t was very good sort of a fly
| and it fed on the scale for all. it worth. but
the trouble was that it didn't breed fast enough
to be of much practical use. However, our
agent found number OF other insects that were
also parasites OF The scale, among them several
kinds of ladybird beetle, closely resembling
the lady bug SO called in America. Hun
dreds of these parasites of various sorts were
shipped by him to California in wooden boxes.
on ice every steamer for four months carrying
consignment of them. Meanwhile other
agents OF ours at Los Angeles, in the midst
of the infested district, had made prepa-
ations inclosing number of orange trees un-
der gauze tents, and ON receipt Of the boxes
the insects that had survived the voyage we're
liberated under the tents. The drawback
about the little fly, which does not multiply its
species with sufficient rapidity. was soon found
to render that small friend unavailable for the
purpose in view. but one species Of ladybird
beetle. on the other hand, was discovered to be
astonishingly prolific. 1t has since been esti-
mated that one of these beetles OF the proper
sex will become grandmother within six months
to seyenty-five billions of her kind, all of them
surprisingly voracious so much so, in fact that
a single individual will destroy on an average
one hundred of the scales"
THE ORANGE INDUSTRY SAVED.
"And what did they do next?"
''Well, a few of the ladybirds escaped from
the tents to neighboring orange orchards, and
going right to work had several hundred trees
ceansed entirely from the scales by the time
that our agents were ready to send around
specimens to the orange growers. They sent
few to each one of large number of orange
farmers in various parts of the state in little
boxes. and the farmers put them ON the limbs
of the trees and left them to multiply by them
selves. This they did with such speed that
orchards of 5000 trees were altogether freed
from the scale within six months. Here is a
letter from one orange grower, who says that he
received lis vedaiias-for so the ladybird
beetles are called-in last March, and by the
3lst day of July he had personally distributed
to 226 men 10000 beetles. Already the state
Of California is practically freed from the pest,
and the orange and lemon growers can once
more look to the future of their industry with
confidence in its superb prospects"
THE wINDINa-UP ACT.
"But what will become of the ever-multipIy-
ing vedalias?"
when they have destroyed the scales, on
which they are having SO glorious a feast at
present, they will turn and feed upon each
other until ali are destroyed, save only the few
necessary to keep the scale from becoming
nuisance again. This is q pleasing little pro-
vision Of nature. II is worth mentioning that
the credit Of this wonderful achievement IL due
to Prof @. '. Riley, the chief of the entomo-
logical division Of this department."
The argument in the case of the five men on
trial at Chicago for tae murder of DIR. Patrick
II. Cronin has begun, and it is thought the case
may be given to the jury in about two weeks.