272 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



eo'O' ill an individual. When touched or di.stiirljed she jumps and may 

 even ily away. She rests with the body elose to the siii)portino' fruit 

 or leaf, with the legs spread out at the sides and the antennte flattened 

 out in front, not unlike two long' front legs. It was possible to obtain 

 a large nundjer of these internal parasites from small breeding cages 

 filled with adult mealy bugs and their egg masses, but the good they do 

 is very difficult to estimate. Great number.s were kept confined for a 

 year, but the number of mealy bugs increased enormousl^' while the 

 parasites almost entirely disappeared. In mounting hundreds of adult 

 mealy bugs I have been unable to procure one that contained the larval 



Fig. 269. — Dorsal and lateral aspects of the mealy bug parasite, Chrysoplatycerus 



splPinlens How. ( Essig. P. C. Jr. Ent.) 



form of the parasites, but the empty skins from which they have issued 

 are plyentiful on the trees in the orchards. 



Distribution. — In the southern part of the State and reported only 

 in Ventura County. 



Hosts. — Half-grown and adult mealy bugs {Fseudococcus citri.). 



BLACK SCALE PARASITE. 



'^'/'(jiiK/ccra (■(ilifoniica Howard (Family Eucyrtidtie) . 



(Pig. 270.) 



General Appearance. — The females are slightly more than one six- 

 teenth of an inch long. The general color is metallic bluish-black, with 

 head, base of antenna^ and the undersides of the legs rich reddish 

 brown ; thorax metallic black ; abdomen metallic bluish-black with brown 

 spot near the base ; upper portions of legs and tips of antennae black 

 and the latter distinctly hairy. Wings dark with short fringe. The 

 males are metallic black ; base.s of antenna' ])rown and tips black ; all 

 parts of legs except black hind tibia are amber; wings perfectly clear. 



*The correct name of this parasite is Dilophognstcr cdlifornicn How. 



