Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-18
FUUTED SCALES LIVED
How an Insect First Reached Florida's
Groves.
A Little Anair That Plays Havoc with
the Oranges Man Who
Knew 1t All.

The experts in the division of entomology.
well as the other officials of the Depart
ment of Agriculture. are very much alarm
ed over the report of the appearance ia
Florida of an insect pest which is the great
est possible menace to the orange trees of
that state. This is nothing more nor less
than the ''fiuted scale" which was import
ed into California about 1870. and which
has, since then. done incalculable damage
to the citrous trees. AS result of dilgent
efforts by all concerned in the matter this
insect has been largely done away with in
California and its appearance in Florida is
regarded as a very serious matter.
And the curious part of it all is that the
appearance of this pest in the southern
groves at this late date is due to the fault
OF too-enterprisng orange grower in
Florida. The duted scale was introduced
into California on some acacia trees, IL was
supposed, and it soon spread through all
the groves in that part of the country. The
bureau of agriculture was called upon for
assistance and a number of washes ana
sprays recommended. which, while they
were of some value in killing out the scale,
did not at all result In their determination.
| 1t existed in Australia, was nothing like as
serious matter there as 1t was in this
country. An agent was sent to Australia
from the Agricultural Department or the
bureau of agriculture as il was then and
he soon discovered that there was a species
OF the ladybird there which fed solely On
the futed scale. The ladybird is a sort of
beetle. very much like the one that is SO
common around this part of the country
and which the children delight IN alarming
by singing them a little ditty which runs
"Ladybird, ladybird. fly away home" He
sent back 100 or 1000 specimens Of these
beetles. which are properly known as We
dallas. They increased very rapidly and the
result was that they had practically cleaned
out the futed scales i'm less than a year
The fluted scale is a small winyless crea-
lure, which fs rather closely allied to the
plant louise. 1t Is a stationary insect and
does It's damage by boring into the tender
parts OF the tree and sucking out its life
juices. OF Its own accord it does not move
very far from the place of its BIRTH though
IL may become attached to the feet OF birds
ana thus be transported a considerable
distance. or Ii may be on a loose leaf which
the wind carries about. or all the insects
which delight In orange groves the fiuted
scale is by long odds the worst.
At the time the vedalia got a large
amount OF free newspaper advertising and
the result was that the bureau Of agricul-
ture was flooded with requests from farm
ers all over the country asking for speci-
mems of the vedalia to clean out other in
sects In every instance the officials were
careful to point out that the vedalia does
not feed on any other insect but the futed
scale and will not even touch the red scale.
wnich does exist IN orange groves in other
l sections OF, the country.
About a month ago the bureau of ento-
\ mology was notified that the nuted scale
had been noticed in Florida I'm very con-
siderable numbers, although In a restricted
area. 1t did not seem as though this could
be possible for no one could Imagine how
the insect could ever have gone from Cali
fornia to Florida There is no trade in cut
tings or nursery stock OF any sort east al
though there is considerable from Florida
to California. Samples of the suspected in
sect were received at the department and
then there was no longer any doubt that
the dreaded pest had actually made its ap-
pearance in the east.
Mr.. III. @. Hubbard. an expert in ento-
moiogy. and especially in the matter of in
sects that menace citrous trees, was at
once dispatched to Florida to investigate
the situation. In a letter just received by
Mr.. Leland o. Howard. chief of the division
| Of entomology, he tells of what he has al
ready done. The futed scale. he said does
exist. but II Is confined to one section of one
large orange grove.
Since he has been there he has advised
the use Of kerosene washes and other ordi-
nary means of disposing of the insect He
finds the owners of the grove to be tntelli-
| gent men. who realize the danger that they
are IN, and they have aided him In every
possible way In stamping out the trouble
A number of trees have been cut down and
burned. trunk and branch, and unless some
| of the insects have been carried of to a dis
lance by birds Mr.. Hubbard is of the opin-
ion that they can be kept from spreading
In his letter he tells an interesting story
| of how the scale was introduced into
| Florida.
A certain orange grower. IL seems was
among those who applied to the department
| for samples of the vedalia as he desired
| to experiment with them to see whether
| they would not destroy the red scale. with
which his trees were troubled to a limited
| extent He. too. was informed that the ex-
| pertinent had already been tried and had
| proved a failure This particular orange
grower, however. had an idea that he knew
more about 1t than all the sharps in the
Agricultural: Department. He sent out to
California to some horticultural authorities
there and asked them to send him a nice
| little supply of lady birds Foolishly enough
| they complied with his request and as they
knew that the vedalia would eat nothing
but fluted scales. they put some futed
scales in the box to keep the vedalias alive
4 en- route. When they got to Florida the
vedalias were let loose and. although the
orange grower did not know it. he let loose
| a large number of futed scales at the
same time The vedalas died. but the
| futed scales did not. On the contrary
they have been thriving most prosperousiy
and have been at work Iropagating to such
an extent that although 1t has been less
than two years since they were introduced
| they now exist by the thousand and possi-
| bly, by the million.
Every one who has been connected with
| the, matter at all realizes the danger that
! threatens the groves of Florida and every
| means is. being tried to stamp II out In
| conversation with Star reporter this
| morning Mr.. Howard said that from the
| ieports he had received from Mr.. Hubbard
| he was Of the opinion that the iuted scale
| might shortly be wiped out of existence
| In the eS.st.o II 1t Is not they will send
| to California at once. where there are still
4 TNfxNv N-nIn To-. IAfe
| TO send down to Florida.
ENJOYING THEMSELVES.