180 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9 



against it, of the introduction and spread of the Prospaltella and of its 

 eminent success, until in 1914 a large part of Italy was relieved from 

 the danger, the old laws for its treatment had been canceled, and 

 quarantine on the part of France against Italy had been modified. 



Thus the practical introduction and colonization of this Prospaltella 

 in Italy by Berlese has proved to be one of the greatest of the successful 

 efforts of this kind yet carried out. 



Attracted by this Italian success, the Prospaltella has recently been 

 introduced from Italy into Switzerland and Spain, and at an earlier 

 date into Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, and Chile — in Uruguay and 

 Argentina from both Italy and the United States, to be used against 

 D. pentagona; and into Peru and Chile from the United States, to be 

 used against other species of Diaspinse. A certain amount of success 

 has been achieved in the Argentine Republic and in Uruguay, and in the 

 former country a national Prospaltella commission has been founded, 

 under the Ministry of Agriculture, for the purpose of handling the dis- 

 semination of the parasites. It is entitled "Comision Nacional Para 

 Propagar la Prospaltella Berlesei How.," and Senor F. A. Barrcelavena 

 is the president. 



In both Italy and Uruguay the Italian and Spanish equivalents of 

 the verb to Prospaltellize and the noun Prospaltellization have appar- 

 ently come into general use. 



Berlese and Marlatt are probably correct in their belief that Diaspis 

 pentagona is an indigene of tropical oriental countries. Marlatt writes 

 concerning this species: [It] ''is common to all eastern Asia, including 

 Japan and the East Indies, and undoubtedly, from its wide distri- 

 bution and local occurrence in most out-of-the-way districts, is a native 

 of this region and has been spread about in times so remotely past as to 

 be beyond determination. It is probably a tropical species which has 

 worked northward until practically the whole region as far as Peking, 

 China, and the north island of Japan has been covered." ^ 



Unlike most Aphelinines, Prospaltella herlesei seems to be rather 

 specifically connected with Diaspis pentagona, whereas most of the 

 group may be reared from several Diaspine hosts. It is probable, there- 

 fore, that this parasite is also of oriental origin, and in fact the whole 

 genus Prospaltella may very possibly be of tropical oriental origin. 

 Of the twenty-two species which have been described, six have been 

 described from the United States, five from Italy, two from Spain, one 

 from Germany, one from Porto Rico, one from Peru, one from Hawaii, 

 one from India, one from China, one from Java, and three from Aus- 

 tralia, but it must be noted that all have been described within the 

 past twenty years, and, as has been frequently pointed out, so great 



* Bulletin 37, new series, Division of Entomology, p. 78. 



