27 



true parasite of icerya, as the female scales from which they escaped were foiind eacli 

 with a small round hole in its back. 



This little parasite is prettily marked with black and yellow. It is new to our fauna, 

 and may have been imported with its host. I turned it' over to Mr. Howard for study, 

 and, as he finds it necessary to erect a new genus for it, I append his generic and specific 

 characterizations : 



Isodromns n. g., Howard. 



Female. — The antennse ari.se near the border of the mouth; the scape is not widened; 

 the pedicel is much longer than the first funicle joint; the funicle joints increase slightly in 

 length from one to six and considerably in width, so that joint six is more than twice as 

 wide as joint one; the club is half as long as the funicle and is obliquely truncate from 

 base to tip. The head is thin antero-posteriorly; the facial impression is slight; the inner 

 borders of the eyes (ire ncarli/ parallel; the ocelli are placed at the corners of a right-angled 

 triangle. The scalpula' nifet on a long line at middle. The hind femora have a very deli- 

 cate longitudinal furrow below. The marginal vein of the fore wings is entirely wanting; 

 the stigmal is moderately long and bends abruptly downward, forming at first a right angle 

 with the suhmarginal, afterwards curving slightly outwards ; the postmarginal is absent, the 

 large mesopleura are covered with a number of longitudinal ridges. 



Male unknown. 



In Other Countries. — In Miss Ormerod's treatise on the icerya is found 

 an account of a new species of lady-bug sent her by a correspondent in 

 South Africa, Mr. S. Bairstow, of Port Elizabeth. This species resembles 

 our chilecorus in markings, being a bluish black, with two red spots, but 

 is hairy; it has been named Rodolia iceryx. Mr. Bairstow also sends a 

 species of lace-wing fly, the larva of, which he has found in large numbers. 

 In a letter received in December last from Mr. Bairstow by myself, he says: 

 " Without doubt in this province last season rodolia and chrysopa worked 

 miracles, which, though the human eye may not discover accurately after 

 effect, reason may safely promise beneficial results." Mr. Bairstow in his 

 letter promised to send me specimens of these insects at the first oppor- 

 tunity. 



At the Santa Barbara Convention I read a small paper on the question 

 of bringing parasites here, and the letters from Mr. Bairstow and ]\Ir. F. S. 

 Crawford, of Adelaide, Australia, were published in full, to which the 

 reader is referred. The second small consignment arrived here in June, 

 they having been sent in the ice chest on the steamer " Zealandia " in special 

 care of the purser. A large wire cage was made so as to inclose a bush 

 four feet high. Here the infested bugs, a species of monophlebus*, were tied 

 in a cloth to a branch of the tree — an English laurel. At the time of 

 opening the box some of the flies had hatched, but were all dead. A 

 visit three weeks after showed that no more had appeared. About two 

 months after, however, I again visited the place and found, judging from 

 the holes in the bugs (monophlebus), that from fifty to sixty flies had 

 escaped. 



So far, therefore, the experiment, I believe, will prove a success if the 

 parasite is as well adapted to live on the icerya as on the monophlebus. 

 It is, of course, yet too early to know if any progeny has been left by these 

 flies. 



That there exists a ver}' important agency in Australia that keeps the 

 icerya in check, letters received by Professor Riley from various people, 

 and especially those lately received by myself from Mr. Crawford, go to 

 prove. If this insect is the chief one, is now to be investigated by Mr. 

 A. Koebele, who through Professor Riley's influence has been sent there. 



An insect on which so much hope is based will naturally be of interest, 

 and I publish in full its description. 



* Monophlebus craivfordii (Maskell), a coccid found liviTig on certain eucalyptus in 

 South Australia. 



