. The Canadian horticulturist [monthly], 1887. Gardening; Canadian periodicals. THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 133 rScientific. THE OYSTER-SHELL BARK LOUSE. (Mi/tilaspis pomorutn.) Very few have any idea how common a pest this is in our Canadian orchards. Many people are wondering why their orchards are so unfruitful, and why they are so stunted in gi'owth, and look so sickly, when the whole trouble is due to this pernicious little louse, which, unnoticed by them, is pi'eying upon the bark of their apple trees in immense numbers, sucking out their strength and life. Last summer toward the end of
. The Canadian horticulturist [monthly], 1887. Gardening; Canadian periodicals. THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 133 rScientific. THE OYSTER-SHELL BARK LOUSE. (Mi/tilaspis pomorutn.) Very few have any idea how common a pest this is in our Canadian orchards. Many people are wondering why their orchards are so unfruitful, and why they are so stunted in gi'owth, and look so sickly, when the whole trouble is due to this pernicious little louse, which, unnoticed by them, is pi'eying upon the bark of their apple trees in immense numbers, sucking out their strength and life. Last summer toward the end of May a neighbor brought in to the writer a branch of a young tree from his orchard asking, " What is the matter with this tree?" The tree would not grow, and he had discovered that the bark was curiously rough with numerous tiny scales about one-sixth of an inch in length, as shewn in hg. 1. Upon lift-. FiG. 1.—Oyster-Shell Bark Lolse. ing one of these scales and using a hand glass the question was soon solved. To his astonishment, there were revealed nearly one hundred wee little lice, too small to be readily seen by the naked eye, and which ran about with the greatest speed over the bai-k as if de- lighted at their liberation from the con- finement of the maternal shell. No wonder the tree was stunted ! This louse belongs to the genus Coc- cidae, and is allied to the aphis, bed- bug, and body-louse. Tt was introduced into this country some eighty years ago from Europe, and although the female cannot fly, and hence migi-ates slowly, it has now become more or less dis- tributed throughout our whole country. The time to destroy these bark lice is early in the month of June, because at that time the young brood escape from under the scales where they hyber- nate, and which are actually the dead bodies of the mother lice. The loose bark should fii-st be scraped off with a hoe, because the cunning youngsters hide away carefully beneath it, as if they were trying to esca
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