REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1902 125 



House t\y, Musca domestica LiDn. 



The bed bug, Acanthia lectularius Linn. 



The cockroach, Periplaneta orientalis Linn. 



The American cockroach, Periplaneta americana Linn. 



The croton bug, PhyUodromia germanica Fabr. 



Beneficial species 



The general record concerning introduced species is not pleas- 

 ant reading, but that of the forms which aid in subduing insect 

 pests is one of the brightest pages of American economic 

 entomology. The first prominent success met with in introduc- 

 ing predaceous enemies was the importation of the Australian 

 ladybug, Novius cardinalis Mul., which was introduced in 

 1889 in hopes that it would check the destructive fluted scale, 

 Icerya purchasi Mask., which then threatened the entire 

 citrus industry of California. These hopes were realized in a 

 most gratifying manner, and the ravages of that scale are now a 

 matter of history. 



Another valuable importation is that of the fig insect, C 1 a s- 

 tophaga grossorum Grov., a species which is absolutely 

 essential for the production of the best quality of figs, and its 

 presence has made possible the growing of the celebrated Smyrna 

 figs in California. This was accomplished largely through the 

 division of entomology of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture and is another of the signal triumphs of ap- 

 plied or practical entomology. Another very recent importation, 

 which may possibly prove of greatest practical benefit to American 

 horticulture, is that of the Chinese ladybug, Chilocorus 

 s i m i 1 i s Eossi, a species which feeds readily on the San Jos6 

 scale and may eventually prove a very efficient factor in controll- 

 ing it. 



A list of the more important beneficial insects which have 

 become established in this country is as follows: 



A parasite of the fluted scale, Lestophonus iceryae 

 Will. 



The fig insect, Blastophaga grossorum Grov. 

 Hessian fly parasite, Entedon epigonus Walk. 

 Scutellista cyanea Motsch., a parasite of the black 

 scale insect. 



