134 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



but the opportunity is a good one to make a preliminary an 

 nouncement of certain facts which have come to my attention, 

 mainly in the last year, concerning the interesting geographic 

 distribution of certain species of scale-insect parasites. 



When I first began the study of hymenopterous parasites of 

 scale-insects, in 1879, although I had abundant material at hand 

 from the United States, all of the Aphelininae studied were com 

 prised in the genera Aphelinus and Coccophagus. In 1880 I 

 published descriptions of 13 species of these two genera, adding 

 in 1885 three others. Ten years later, in going over accumu 

 lated material for the purpose of revising the subfamily, it be 

 came evident that new elements had entered our fauna. Several 

 genera not previously recognized in the United States were found 

 to be abundantly represented and several of them were described 

 as new. In late years, in point of fact, the formerly abundant 

 species of Aphelinus have apparently become rarer and rarer, 

 while their place has been taken by Aspidiotiphagus, Prospalta, 

 Perissopterus, Ablerus, and Encarsia. 



The great interest which has sprung up of recent years in the 

 study of the Coccidae in different parts of the world, largely 

 arising from the great economic importance which these insects 

 are assuming, has resulted in the gradual accumulation at Wash 

 ington of parasitic forms from many different parts of the 

 world, and their study is already revealing many points of 

 interest. As is quite to be expected, several of these parasites 

 have accompanied their Coccid hosts in their commercial distri 

 bution to widely separated countries on plants, nursery stock 

 and fruit, and seem to have as readily accommodated themselves 

 to varying conditions of climate as have their hosts. A care 

 ful study of these forms and their distribution will be a labor of 

 years, but certain facts already accumulated w r ill be of interest. 



Aspidiotiphagus citrinus (Craw) is a species which was 

 unknown in this country, and, in fact, unknown to science, prior 

 to 1891, when it was described by Mr. Craw, under the name 

 Coccophagus citrinus, in a pamphlet published at Sacramento, 

 entitled " Destructive Insects." Since that date, this species has 

 come to me in hundreds of examples from 18 distinct species of 

 scale-insects and from the following localities : 



Many localities in the United States (various collectors) ; 

 Grenada, B. W. I., (H. H. Smith) ; Portici, Italy, (A. Ber- 

 lese) ; Punduloya, Ceylon, (E. E. Green) ; Kandy, Ceylon, (A. 

 Koebele) ; Hong Kong and Amoy, China, (A. Koebele) ; Tam- 

 sui, Formosa, (A. Koebele) ; Yokohama, Japan, (A. Koebele) ; 

 Newlands, Cape Colony, (C. P. Lounsbury) ; Brisbane, Queens 

 land, (A. Koebele) ; Adelaide, South Australia, (F. S. Craw 

 ford) ; Honolulu, Hawaii (A. Koebele). 



