108 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



differs Iruiu nidst oi" the true mealy bugs by having but seven articled 

 antenna\ 



Life History.— The eggs are deposited in loose cottony masses 

 beneath the female or ])ehind her within the culm of the infested 

 grass. They are small, elliptical in form and yellow in color. The 

 young or(>at]y resemble the females, being light or pink in color. 



Lenth -4 to 6 mm. Males have not 

 been taken. The females enter the 

 grass stems through holes bored by 

 other insects. 



Distribution. — Taken only in Ven- 

 tura County. 



Food Plant. — This insect works on 

 the tender shoots and between the 

 blades and culms of the common wild 

 rye {Elymns condensatus). 



Natural Enemy. — Held in check by 

 the larva? of a small native ladybird 

 beetle belonging to the genus 

 Scym)n<s. 



THE COTTONY BAMBOO SCALE. 



Antoniiia craivi Ckll. 

 (Fig. 90.) 



General Appearance. — The full- 

 grown female scales are completely 

 covered with a thick, compact white, 

 cottony coat, which makes them very 

 conspicuous. The body proper varies 

 from one eighth to nearly one fourth 

 of an inch long; broadly oval or 

 rounded and deep purplish-red in 

 color. The white coating may be 

 nearly one half inch in diameter. 

 The females collect in colonies form- 



FiG. 89.— The wild rye ripersia • i„,,o.p pnftnnv Tnn<«csps in the leaf- 



{Ripersia smithii Essig) witliin tlie '"" ^^^^^ C0tt0n\ maSSeS HI XUL ICai 



plant stems. (Essig, P. C. Jr. Ent.) axils of the CaUCS. 



Distribution. — This insect has often been taken in cpiarantine. It 

 now occurs in many greenhouses and gardens, where bamboo is grown 

 and is confined to the central and southern parts of the State. The 

 writer collected large quantities of it in a private garden in Ventura. 



Food Plant. — It works upon the bamboo where it collects in large 

 colonies in the crotches and leaf-axils of the canes and is especially 

 damaging to young growths. 



