, 1890-01-04
OF A BUG.
An Insect Immigrant That Is Saving Call
fornIa's Orange Industry.

And yet the bug bureau in the depart
ment 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, the great or
ange industry of California has been
threatened with destruction by an in
sect that sticks its beak into the tree
bark and sucks the vital sap, giving
forth a sort of emulation which has
procured for the pest the name of
white scale 1t attacks not only Or
anges and lemons, but all the citrus
tribe, trees of many other kinds and
ven weeds, hence the hopelessness of
the complaint since, though the fruit
trees were cleansed of it, the scale
would Immediately infest an orchard
again from neighboring plants or
grasses. So bad was it in California
that orange growers there within a
year have been digging up their or
chards and going into other sorts of
farming. Twelve months ago it looked
seriously as though the state would
shortly cease altogether &c produce
oranges. 1t was high time that some
thing should be done"
And what was done2'' asked the re-
porter, interested.
Something entirely new to science
and human knowledge. 1t was no
tlced that when the scale first appear
ed, a few years ago, it tackled, to be-
gin with, the acacia tree, imported
from Australia. Naturally, the in
ference was that the scale had come
from Australia with the acacia, and
them most distinguished entomologists
of the island continent were written
to about h matter. They all said
that the white scale was plentiful in
Australia, but that ii did not amount
to "A pest. The orange orchards We're
attacked by 1t, but did not suffer.
Whyl OF course there must be some
good reason for this, and TO an ento-
mologist it vas very plain. Clearly,
the scale insect in Australia had an
enemy that preyed upon it and kept it
down, and this enemy had not beer
imported with the scale itself into
California, May be, being more deli
cate than the scale insect, it had not
survived the voyage. So much hav-
ing been determined, the mex thing
was to find the enemy. The Austria
liam cntomologists were asked about it,
but they all said that they had never
heard of such a thing, ave one ex-
pert. This man replied that he had
found a very small fly that was a para
site of the white scale. Eurekal"
do tellr' echoed the newspaper
man.
so then .Ve sent an expert of our
W from this bureau to Australia.
who made IL study of the scale in that
country and found the fly as represent
ed. II was "A very good sort of a fly
and it fed on the scale for all it was
worth, but the trouble was hat it did
not breed fast enough to be of much
practical use. However, our agent
found "A number of other insects that
were also parasites of the scales, among
them several kinds of lad bird beetle,
closely resembling the 'ladybug,' so
called in America. Hundreds of these
parasites of various sorts were shipped
by him to California in wooden boxes,
on ice, every steamer for Tour months
carrying Il consignment of them.
Meanwhile other agents Of ours at Los
Angeles, in the midst of the infested
district, had made preparations, inclos.
ing a number of orange trees under
gauze tents, and on receipt of the boxes
the insects hat had survived the voy-
& were liberated under the tents. The
drawback about the little fly, which
docs not multiply its species with suf-
hclent rapldlty, was soon foundt to rem
der that small friend unavailable for
the purpose in view, but II species of
ladybird beetle, on the other hand, was
discovered to be astouiShingly prolific.
II has since been estimated that one of
these beetles of the proper sex will be,
come grandmother within six months
to'soventy-five billions of her kind, all
of them surprisingly ~voracious; so
much so, III fact, that IA single individ-
ual will destroy III an average 100 of
he's scales
And what did they do next2n
"Well, a few of the ladybirds es-
capped from the tents to neighboring
orange orchards, and going right to
work had several hundred trees
cleanscd entirely from the scales by
the time that our agents We're ready
to send around specimens to the or
nnge growers. They sent IL few to
each IN of Il 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 themselves. This
they dld with such speed hat orchards
of 5000 trees We're altogether freed
from the scale within six months.
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 indus
try with confidence in its superb pros,
poets"
But what will become of the eve,
multiplying vedaliast'
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
all + destroyed, save only the few
necessary to keep the scale from be
coming a nuisance again. This is u
pleasing little provision Of nature. 1t
Is worth mentioning that the credit Of
this wonderful achievement is due to
Professor c. Y. Riley, the chief of the
chronological division Of this depart.
mcnt Washington Star.
Job printing at the Leader.