263 



Ichneumon flies, by their wings, which insteacl of being covered 

 with a net work of veins, ha\e the venation extremely reduced, 

 the most conspicuous part being a short vein ending in a knob or 

 stigma, which extends from near the middle of the upper edge of 

 each fore-wing. They are often beautifully metallic green or 

 blue. Mr. L. O. Howard remarks (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1891. 

 p. 571) that hardly a species of scale insect can be found which 

 does not have a formidable parasite among the Chalcididce, of 

 the sub families Ajjhelinince and Encyrtinai. These interesting 

 and important little pai-asites can be reared by keeping the scales 

 in a closed box with a glass top, which admits of their easy 

 observation. When scales are examined with a hand-lens, they 

 may very often be seen perforated by small round holes, where 

 the parasites have escaped ; and in other cases, the pai'asite will 

 appear as a dark spot or patch within the body of the Coccid. 

 In such cases, by counting the number of infested, and the 

 number of healthy scales, we may estimate the importance of the 

 parasite. 



(2.) Family Mymaridce. — These are similar to the Chaleidi- 

 dse, but still more minute, and Mr. Howard is of the opinion 

 that many, if not most, of those bred from scale-insects are 

 parasite upon the eggs. Considering the minute size of a Coccid 

 egg, it does indeed seem wonderful that these creatures should 

 be able to undergo their metamorphoses within them ! When 

 we examine a Mymarid under the microscope, the antennae 

 ai'e seen to be somewhat different from those of the 

 Chalcids, and the wings are narrow, especially the hind pair, 

 with very long fringes. A few Proctotrujndw have also been 

 recorded as bred from scale-insects ; these are very similar to the 

 Mymaridoi but differ in some important sti'uctural characters. 

 Many writers class the Mymarid(v as a sub family of Proctotru- 

 23id(e. Of the Br-aconidce, which have distinctly veined wingp, 

 one species {Lysiphlehus citrcqyhis Ashmead) has been recorded, 

 (Insect Life, Vol III page 60) as bred from a mealy bug. 



Lepidoptbra. 

 The caterpillars of some moths live upon Coccidfe and their 

 eggs. No instance of this sort is yet known in Jamaica, but 

 several have been recorded in the United States, and in Australia 

 the black scale [Bernardia olece) was observed by Mr. Koebele to 

 be kept well in check by the larva of Thalpochares cocci2?haga. 



Neuroptera. 



Lace-wing flies (Chryso^m), easily recognized by their green 



colour and four finely reticulated wings, have been found to 



destroy Coccidse in the United States and Australia. These 



flies, of which one species breeds abundantly on the lignum-vitie in 



