THE MONTH I,Y BULLETIN. 539 



INSECT NOTES. 



Eulccanium robiniarhim Dougl. is quite common on madrone at St. Helena, Napa 

 County. — E. J. Branigan. 



Specimens of the common bulb mite, Rhizofjhip}ms hijacinthi, on onions, l<indly 

 determined bv Mr. Natlian Banlis of tlie Federal Bureau of Entomology, through the 

 courtesy of Dr. L. O. Howard, were recently received from Mr. D. S. Boyer, of 

 Thermal, California. — E. J. Vosler. 



Adults of Hippodamia convergens Guer., were collected in their hibernating quarters 

 in the Feather River Canyon, in large numbers, November 15th. Two weeks previous 

 to this date those ladybirds were seen flying in swarms through these canyons m the 

 daytime, from about 10.30 a. m. to 3 p. m. It is unusually warm in this section of the 

 Sierra Nevada Mountains for this time of the year. — E. J. Branigan. 



The steel-blue ladybird, Orcus chalvbeus, introduced by Koebele from Australia, 

 was observed to be very abundant in Santa Barbara County in November, feeding 

 upon the black scale, Saissetia olew. — Harry S. Smith. 



Chionaspis qncrcvs Comst. was collected from the valley oak, Quercus lobata, at 

 St. Helena, Napa County. — E. J. Branigan. 



The codling moth, Cvdia pomnneUa, L., has been infesting English walnuts to a 

 rather unu.sual e.xtent in the vicinity of Carpinteria during the season just passed. 

 Prof. H. J. Quayle is carrying on an investigation. — Harry S. Smith. 



The English hollv leaf-miner Phvtomvsa aquifolii, Gour.. has been intercepted in the 

 first shipment of liollv received from Holland this year. The larvae were very minute 

 and had evidently hatched while in transit. As found by the writer the infestation 

 was greatest near the base of the tree on the new leaves with a scattering infesta- 

 tion tliroiiglinnt the top. 



Whether this insect has any economic bearing on shrubs or trees otlier than Iiolly 

 is not known to the authoi-, but in the case of ornamental hollv it seems to be of 

 great importance as all infested leaves slowly decline and finally drop, which con- 

 dition leaves the tree in an unsalable state. — L. A. Whitney. 



The golden mealy bug, Pseudococcus aurilanntns Mask, has been seriously damaging 

 the Araucarias at Pasadena this fall. — Harry S. Smith. 



Pseudococcus citri is breeding in considerable abundance on one of the Carob trees 

 in tlie vicinity of Santa Barbara. — Harry S. Smith. 



One of the frog hoppers (Cercopidae) is abundant on madrone at St. Helena, Napa 

 County. — E. J. Branigan. 



A small snout beetle, identified as Apion citbicoUe by Dr. E. C. Van Dyke, was 

 recently sent to this office by R. L. Gibbons, at Orangevale, who reported that it was 

 found feeding on olives. — Geo. P. Weldon. 



The adults of Scudderia furcifera. and Schistocerca sp., were common November lOtli 

 in the Feather River Canyon. — E. J. Branigan. 



Among the more or less serious insect pests intercepted by the members of the 

 Quarantine Division in the performance of their varied duties this past summer, were 

 two species of diptera. an anthomyiid Atherifiona sp. and a syrphid fly, Vohicella 

 obesa. Fabr. These insects were found infesting squash and melons In ships' stores 

 from Tahiti. 



According to Dr. Aldrich. the first mentioned is a tropical genus and probably a 

 bad fruit insect, having been reared from various fruits from Havana, Cuba, Cook's, 

 Fiji and Hawaiian Islands. In addition to this record the first occurrence of the 

 genus in the United States was recorded wlien the fly was reared from Isell peppers 

 intercepted at San P^iancisco Ijy this division from lona, Florida. 



General Description. — Adult robust, somewhat smaller than our spinach or sugar 

 beet leaf-miner Pec/omum vicina, with three well defined brown stripes on dorsum of 

 thorax. Abdomen light brown with several dark brown to black stripes. 



The last mentioned Vohicrlki obesa is a large dark metallic green svrphid. which, 

 unless closely examined, would easily be mistaken for one of the large Muscids. The 

 genus as a whole are scavengers and in this case were probably a result rather than 

 a cause. This insect is recorded from the southern United States, Colombia, Ecuador, 

 Guiana, Asia, East Indies, etc. — L. A. Whitney. 



