OF WASHINGTON. 251 



results. There were exceptional instances, and one particularly, 

 at Santa Barbara, where Rhizobius ventralis was reported to be 

 doing much good in clearing olive trees of the Black Scale, 

 Lecanitim olece. 



The controversy as to what these insects were doing continued, 

 however, and he made it a point in his recent trip to study as far 

 as possible the actual state of things. For this purpose he had 

 made observations around Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Ange 

 les, and in various parts of Orange and of Santa Clara counties, 

 as well as in and around Santa Barbara. At Los Angeles he 

 examined with special interest the Kercheval orchard, where 

 Orcus chalybeus bad been extensively colonized and cared for 

 with.much assiduity. He found there that the original trees upon 

 which the ladybirds had been colonized still contained many 

 specimens of the Red Scale, Aspidiotus aurantii, which it was 

 expected to exterminate, while the orchard, as a whole, was in a 

 sorry plight both from the scale and from neglect. A few speci 

 mens of the ladybird were found after considerable search. In 

 several orchards around Santa Barbara which were very care 

 fully examined he found but very little evidence of the work of 

 Rhizobius, and none of any of the other introduced species. The 

 same was true at Redlands, Riverside, Pasadena, Altadena, and 

 other places where he had been able to make careful examina 

 tions. 



All over California the Black Scale is present this winter in 

 smaller numbers than usual. This is the case in localities where 

 Rhizobius has not been introduced, as well as in localities where 

 it has been introduced, and this is probably the result of the ex 

 tremely hot, dry summer of last year. Many of the young scales, 

 however, are still alive, even in localities where Rhizobius had 

 been colonized. He found a few specimens of Lets conformis, 

 but none of the introduced species were present in any locality in 

 anything like the same numbers as the native ladybirds, notably 

 Chilocorus bivulnerus. 



Dr. Riley called attention to the fact that in Europe and 

 America our predaceous insects have, as a rule, some property 

 that protects them from the attacks of other animals. In the case 

 of the Coccinellids this protection is believed to be due to some 

 acrid secretion unpalatable to predaceous animals and other pre 

 daceous and parasitic insects. The Australian Coccinellids, 

 however, seem to be of a lower type and not to share in such 

 immunity. They are known in the larva state to be quite com 

 monly parasitized, and, what is more singular, are extensively 

 eaten both in the larva and imago states by birds, the English 

 sparrow being conspicuous in this respect, as recorded by French 

 and other Australian writers. 



