THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



535 



ENTOiMOLOGICAL. 



THE PROGRESS OF SCYMNUS BIPUNCTATUS. 



By Hauky S. Smith. 



The addition of any foreign insect to our local fauna is always of 

 r^reat interest. It is of especial interest when that insect happens to 

 l)e a beneficial one. In June. 191-t. a colony of several thousand adults 

 of the Philippine ladybird was sent by the insectary for liberation 

 at Alhanibra by INfr. A. S. Hoyt. This insect, it will be remembered, is 

 l)redaceous upon the citrus mealy bug and was obtained in the Philip- 

 pines by the writer in the fall of 1913. As nearly as can be ascertained 

 from descriptions, this is the same ladybird as the one brought in by 



George Compere in 1910, although the species 

 was determined as Criiptogonus orhiculus, a 

 very different insect, but superficially similar 



• in a]ipearance. Undoubtedly ]\Ir. Compere 



should have the credit for discovering this 

 promising species. For reasons unknown to 

 ^ the writer, the insect introduced as C. orhiculus 



did not become established, at least so far as 

 §any direct evidence is concerned. It is par- 

 ticularly encouraging then to be able to record 

 that upon a recent visit to the site of the June 

 colony referred to above, the little ladybirds 

 were found breeding by the thousands upon 

 the lemon trees w^here they were liberated. 

 The trunk of one tree was on one side literally 

 plastered with the white waxy larvaj of 

 Scymnus. 



In the ease of Scymnus hipunctatus Kugel., 

 being a tropical insect, it would seem that the 

 crucial test of its ability to establish itself in our fauna will come 

 during the winter months. However, as the species is said to be widely 

 distributed in the eastern joalaearctic region, especially China and 

 Japan, it ought to be able to adapt itself to our climate. Its progress 

 will be watched with great interest and it would not be surprising if it 

 became of considerable value in the control of Pseudococcus citri. 



Fic. 118. — .vaults of 

 Scijmniis hipunctatus 

 Kugel. Enl.arged 

 (Original). 



