THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



38:5 



IDENTITY OF THE SPECIES. 



All insect wliicli was originally su{)])ose(l to be tlie same as the one 

 under discussion was described ])y Doctor S. W. Williston from material 

 collected in Australia by Mr. Fraser S. Crawford in 1888 and sent to 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. "Williston was 

 unable to place the insect in any known genus, this necessitating the 

 erection of a new genus which he called Lestophoiius, naming the species 

 iccrycn after its host. Practically all the notes published on this para- 

 site appear in the literature nnder the name of Lestophoiius iccryce 

 Williston. Soon thereafter Skuse described a second species of Lesto- 

 phoiius from Australia which he called monophlchi. It has recently 

 been determined by Mr. Frederick Knab of the United States National 

 Museum that the species we have in California, or at least the material 

 which he studied from California, is the monophlehi of Sku.se and not 

 the iccryce as described by Dr. AVilliston. "While it is possible that both 

 species were successfully introduced into California it is hardly likely, 



Fig. 129. — -Lestophous ovipositing in an immature cottony 

 cushion scale. Enlarged. (Original.) 



and at any rate the species studied at the insectary is according to 

 Mr. Knab's table for determination of the species monophlehi Skuse. 

 Dr. Williston wrote later that in his search for a genus for this parasite 

 he had overlooked the genus Cryptochastum erected by Rondani for the 

 European species grandicorne in 1875, and which is congeneric with 

 the species under discussion. The name of this parasite then, accord- 

 ing to the best information available, should be CryptochcBtum mono- 

 phlehi (Skuse). 



DISCOVERY AND INTRODUCTION INTO CALIFORNIA. 



So far as we are able to learn from the literature the first mention 

 of this parasite was the original description by Dr. Williston in July, 

 1888. At that time the Cottony Cushion scale had reached the climax 

 in its abundance and the citrus growers were appealing to Washington 

 for relief. Dr. L. 0. Howard, then first assistant in the Division of 

 Entomology under Dr. C. V. Kiley, had been making some investiga- 

 tions through correspondence into the Australian enemies of Icerya 

 with the object in view of attempting the introduction into California 

 of any promising forms discovered. As a result of his correspondence 

 Mr. Frazer S. Crawford of Adelaide, Australia, sent to the department 

 specimens of the parasite. This discovery was the beginning of the 



