REPORT ON PARASITES AND PREDACEOUS INSECTS. 



EXPERT'S TRIP TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



NEW SPECIES INTRODUCED. 



To Hon. Ellwood Cooper, President, and to the honorable State Board 

 of Horticulture: 



Sir: At your request I give herewith some notes on the condition of 

 fruit trees and the coccids injurious thereto in Australia, also the work 

 of natural parasites upon the same in that country, as found during my 

 recent mission; at the same time giving you a statement as to how I 

 found the recently introduced species on my trip to Los Angeles and 

 Santa Barbara at the beginning of September, 1892, and my opinion of 

 their future work in this country. 



My report upon this last trip has been forwarded to the Secretary of 

 Agriculture, to whom I had to report as directed in letter of authoriza- 

 tion, dated May 29, 1891. In it I give a full account of all the beneficial 

 insects found and forwarded to this country, as also of such as were 

 studied in the field, and which may be introduced at some future time. 

 As this report will not appear in print until some time during 1893, I 

 will briefly acquaint you with what was accomplished. 



As you are aware, my chief work was to search for such parasitic 

 and predaceous insects as prey upon the coccids injurious to our fruit 

 trees. These are the so-called red scale (Aspidiotus aurantii, Mask.), 

 detrimental to our orange trees; the pernicious scale {Aspidiotus perni- 

 ciosus, Comst.), upon and destructive to various deciduous trees; and the 

 various black scales (Lecanium), as the principal species. 



The red scale is present all over Australia upon citrus and various 

 other trees and shrubs, and has been known upon orange trees for the 

 last fifty years. Whether the insect is a native or introduced cannot 

 be said with any certainty, but as the conditions indicate. I think it is 

 an introduced species. Internal parasites could rarely be found upon 

 the same; chiefly upon the male scales, small holes were occasionally 

 found, from whence minute chalcid flies had issued. None of these 

 were bred. 



The black scales are represented by various species, and our most 

 common forms, Lecanium olese, Bernard, and L. hesperidum, Linn., are 

 found everywhere in New Zealand and Australia, and in my opinion 

 are indigenous to the latter country. Numerous internal parasites were 

 found preying upon these two coccids, and were repeatedly sent here. It 

 is in predaceous insects feeding upon the various coccids that Australia 

 is immensely rich, and these are chiefly ladybirds {C occinellidse) . 



The group Orcus resembles our own form Chilocorus, of which C. 

 bivulnerus is well known in California. The habits are the same; they 

 will breed upon a variety of scales from early spring until winter, when 

 the mature insects will hibernate for a time. Four species of these were 

 sent here, and two of them, 0. chalybeus and 0. australasia, in very 



