THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 413 



there is just enough room for them to expand to their maximum 

 development, and where the ants have easy access to the food- 

 supply of secreted h"quid. The writer has, however, occasionally 

 found an isolated female scale which had been protected from 

 external agents by the ants building up walls of frassy material 

 from the wood of the tree to the shaggy flake of bark which had 

 weathered away from the Coccid, thus exposing it to the attacks 

 of predacious or parasitic insects until such a protection had been 

 built by the ants. Through this wall of protective material were 

 several entries or exits, as the case might be, for the ants to go to 

 their "cows." 



Natural Enemies. — While collecting this scale insect, the 

 writer has found several Syrphid spp. larvae in close conjunction 

 with the sides of the scales, apparently feeding on their bodies. 

 Insects thus attacked were partially shrivelled, but still alive and 

 attended by the ants as usual. In a few cases the Syrphid larvae 

 were completely covered by the adult scale, probably having 

 wormed their ways beneath the insects. It would appear that the 

 ants tolerate this intruder, but for what reason, the writer cannot 

 definitely say, unless it is because the Syrphid larvae also give off a 

 sweetened secretion, or because the ants have not learned to dis- 

 tinguish between the scale and the fly larvae, or because the in- 

 truder does not entirely destroy the secreting faculties of this 

 coccid. Most of the Syrphid larvae are apparently of one species, 

 being salmon pink in colour, and about 3 mm. long and 1 mm. 

 wide at time of observation (14 Aug., 1916). However, a large, 

 fiattish circular or slightly elongate creamy-white Syrphid larva, 

 4 mm. long and 3 mm. wide was also taken in connection with 

 the scales, but none have matured to render identification possible. 

 No parasitic Hymenoptera have been reared from this Coccid. 



Remarks. — A smaller, differently coloured m€aly-bug, possibly 

 very close to this species is mentioned from the same host in 

 Indiana, but is not fully described, nor is it named by the State 

 Entomologist of Indiana in his 1910 report, p. 226. 



