SOME RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE INSECT FAUNA OF OHIO.

Extract

In the year 1889, Mr. Henry Tryon, Assistant Curator of the Queensland, Australia, Museum, in a report on the insect and fungus pests, published as report No. 1, by the Department of Agriculture of Queensland, pp. 89-91 describes a species of scale insect found on the peach, as the White Scale, Diaspis amygdali (fig 7). and reported its occurrence both at Brisbane, Queesland, and Sydney, New South Wales. Although described as the White Scale, the author continually refers to it as the peach scale, in his paper, and the latter name has been adopted in America for the species. Of its habits Mr. Tryon states that: “At first its presence is betrayed by small white spots or patches on the bark of the smaller branches; but as the insect increases these soon become in many places confluent, and the individual scales overlap one another, or are contorted by being squeezed together closely, or even appear to lie one over the other, and where the male scale insects crowd together these spots present a more finely chaffy appearance. As it will occur quite up to the tips of the branches, the complete destruction of any tree subjected to the attack of the peach scale, and owing to it, is only a matter of time. When already in patches on the branchlets prior to the formation of the leaves and fruit, in early spring, it does not hinder their formation; the leaves are green as usual, the fruit sets, but is soon retarted in its growth and shrivels up”. Writing me under date of November 7th 1897, however, Mr. Tryon has this to say of its present condition in Queensland: “This Coccid is far from being generally distributed in Queensland, and nowhere have I observed it to act very prejudicially to the trees that it attacks.