Maskell. — On Coccididse. 203 



versal attention was drawn to it. My late friend Mr. Craw- 

 ford, of Adelaide, was the first to discover the " natural 

 enemy," in the shape of a rather large parasitic fly, which he 

 called Lcstoplwnus icerya. The pest having become exceed- 

 ingly injurious in California, the United States Agricultural 

 Department at Washington, which is presided over by scien- 

 tific experts, determined to leave no stone unturned to put a 

 stop to the damage, which was being done to the extent of 

 millions of dollars, and threatened to increase. An officer of 

 the department, Mr. Albert Koebele, was sent to Australia in 

 1888 to procure supplies of the Lcstophonus from Mr. Craw- 

 ford, for the purpose of introducing them into California. 

 Calling on his way at New Zealand, where, in the North, 

 leery a was dreadfully prevalent, Mr. Koebele was fortunate 

 enough to find a much better enemy to Icerya, in the form 

 of Veclalia cardinalis, one of the Coccincllidce (ladybirds), 

 and, recognising at once the full importance of this insect, 

 he carried away with him to California a large number of 

 Vedalia, with the result that in two or three years' time that 

 State was practically cleared of Icerya, and its fruit industry 

 saved. Since then Vedalia has been sent about the world 

 wherever Icerya prevails, with a similar good result in every 

 case. 



The foregoing is perhaps only a " twice-told tale," known 

 to many people, although even so it cannot be too often 

 repeated. The public of New Zealand are not so well 

 acquainted with the sequel. The Washington Department, 

 finding that Mr. Koebele's first trip had been so successful, 

 despatched him on a second journey to Australia and New Zea- 

 land, "on a search for beneficial insects." The State of 

 California appropriated 5,000 dollars towards his expenses ; the 

 department supplemented the sum as required. The object 

 this time was not to fight against Icerya, but to obtain the 

 natural enemies of other insect pests very injurious to fruit 

 and other trees, such as Asiridiotus aurantii on orange and 

 lemon, or Lecaninm olca, on various plants. Mr. Koebele 

 reached New Zealand in October, 1891, spent a day or two with 

 Mr. Wight and Mr. Cheeseman in Auckland, stayed also a 

 day or two with me in Wellington, passed on to Australia, 

 where he remained till July, 1892, and then returned to Cali- 

 fornia. During this time he was successful in discovering a 

 large number of parasitic insects and in despatching supplies 

 of them to America. I have not yet heard what is the final 

 result of his journey. We can only hope that it will be as 

 useful as in 1888. 



As far as regards myself, I am indebted to Mr. Koebele 

 for, as stated just now, a large number of the insects referred 

 to in this paper, whether new species or known insects from 



