FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB. 223 



"contained one or more mealy bugs and the larger ones whole 

 "colonies. The name destructor is however, proposed for this 

 "insect from the damage, done by it to orange trees in Florida, 

 " especially at Jacksonville and Micanopy, where it is the most 

 "serious insect pest to the orange. 



This species has been recorded from Jamaica by Mr, 

 Cockerell " from a few examples in the Jamaica Museum con- 

 " tained in a tube marked " Scale insect on Crosset [? Gogset] 

 Cotl'ee. D. citri is said by Penzig to be one of the worst of the 

 orange enemies in Italy. 



So far as Trinidad is concerned it is found singly on a variety 

 of plants about gardens and sometimes in large numbers. In the 

 country districts I have seen it very numerous on cocoa pods, in 

 fact some pocls were nothing else but a mass of mealy bugs and 

 white secretion, in which quite a small insect fauna could be 

 observed, such as several species of parasitic hymenoptera, lady 

 birds, lace wing Hies, aphis iiies, Baccha sp. in all stages, and 

 mites. On the Cocoa the young lice settled in the fork jf the 

 young trees or in the grooves of the pod. I have also observed 

 them on Sugar cane in the leaf axils. Oranges are also sub- 

 ject to their attacks. They are not regarded as injurious by 

 planters, but I certainly think that their presence ought not in 

 any way to be neglected. 



Several parasites were bred, which will be described on 

 another occasion. 



Dactylopius virc/atus, Ckll. 



var. cerifervs (Newstead). 



This coccid is also new to the fauna of the Island, Mr. 

 Cockerell to whom 1 referred it for determination writes as 

 follows: — "Curiously it agrees with Dactylopius cerijerus, 

 " Newstead, Ind. Mus. Notes, vol. iii., found in Madras on 

 " Croton, by Miss T,. E. Tomlin. Unfortunately, however, it 

 " is also most dreadfully close to my D. virgatus, and especially 

 " to that form of it named var. farinosus. The typical true 

 " mryatns has the back with dark spots and bands, but in var. 

 "farinosus the back is very mealy and the banding is practi- 

 " cally lost. 



" Singularly, in his description, Newstead also compares his 

 "cerifervs with filamentosus ; though as I wrote you, it has 

 " nothing to do with that insect. In my original description of 

 " D. viryatus, I described four varieties which I had at first 

 "taken to be distinct species or sub-species. The insect is in 

 "fact a general feeder, and verj' variable. According to my 

 " present judgment, your croton species is most assuredly a form 



