June, '13] TOWNSEND: COTTON SQUARE WEEVIL 303 



culture in introducing promising parasites and predaceous enemies 

 of scale insects into California. The little that has l:»een said already 

 under the treatment of the individual species indicates that the para- 

 sites of the soft scale are either native species of California, or have been 

 introduced accidentally through commerce. The two species of Aphy- 

 cus so far as known are native of the United States, although inasmuch 

 as the species near flavus confines its attack mainly to the soft scale 

 it may have been brought wdth its host into California. The same 

 may be said of Microterys flavus, and unless these two parasites have 

 changed their host relationship to a marked degree since the introduc- 

 tion of the soft scale, the probability of their accidental introduction 

 is great. The two species of Coccophagus are probably native of 

 California, and lecanii is known from many other parts of America. 



Leaving out of account those species which are essentially primary 

 in habits, viz.: Coccophagus lecanii and Tomocera californica, all the 

 hyperparasites except Perissopterus javensis are undoubtedly native 

 species and will presumably be found attacking the parasites of native 

 Coccids when these have been studied thoroughly. 



Predaceous Enemies of the Soft Scale 



This account of the natural control of the soft scale would not be 

 complete without some mention of its predatory enemies. Considering 

 that the soft scale is such a defenceless creature, we should natu- 

 rally expect that its predaceous enemies would abound. This, how- 

 ever, does not seem to be the case and in fact only one predator has 

 been noticed actually feeding on the scales. This is the common 

 Rhizohi'us ventralis Er. introduced into California many years ago. 

 It is abundant in southern California, being often found feeding on 

 the black scale, but it is rarely associated with Coccus hesperidnm. 



PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE PICUDO OF COTTON IN 



PERU 



By Charles H. T. Townsend, Lima, Peru 



Origin, Discovery and Occurrence 



The Peruvian cotton square-weevil, Anthonomus vestitus, now com- 

 monly known in Peru as the picudo del hielo, is evidently a native of 

 South America and originally invaded the semi-arid Peruvian coast re- 

 gion, probably centuries ago, from the humid tropical districts border- 

 ing the Gulf of Guayaquil. It was originally described by Boheman 

 from the Island of Puna in the Gulf of Guayaquil, and has recently 



