21 



Mr. Lounsbury replied that he did not thinlc it is "kriT)wii. The scale 

 must have been in Cape Colony for many years and is not confined to 

 citrus trees. It occurs most commonl}^ on oleander and myroporum. 

 He had found it 150 miles inland and on numerous indigenous plants 

 awa}' from settlements. 



Mr. Johnson asked. whether the parasite is solely responsible for the 

 reduction of the scale in the orchards, and whether oleander is grown 

 in South Africa as it is here, under glass. 



Mr. Lounsbury replied that oleander at the Cape is an outdoor 

 plant. He could not say positively that the scale is held in check 

 solely by the parasite. It comes and goes, and is never very abundant. 

 Only twice has he been shown by a farmer the scale on citrus trees. 



jNIr. Johnson, referring to Mr. Howard's description of the covering 

 of tig trees much in the same way that Vedalia was covered in order to 

 keep the figs on the trees, ask^ed if it is necessary for the fig to remain 

 upon the tree in order that the parasites may be carried through the 

 winter with it. 



Mr. Howard said that he assumed so. 



Mr. Johnson suggested, from what he had seen of the condition in 

 which the fig winters, that it might be possible to take figs at certain 

 times from the trees and thus keep the insect through the winter. If 

 this could be done it would do away with the outdooi' covering. 

 Whether or not the figs could be kept through the winter under cer- 

 tain conditions is well worthy of trial. While on this topic of para- 

 sites he desired to state that he had recenth^ received a comnuuiication 

 from Mr. Ehrhorn, in which the latter asked for parasites preying in 

 the East on the imported cabbage worm. It seemed to Mr. Johnson 

 that this was a matter for cooperation, and he merely mentioned the 

 fact as a suggestion from Mr. Ehrhorn that it is very desirable to 

 establish such parasites in that section. He had promised to do what 

 he could from his end of the line, and he hoped that others who were 

 fortunate enough to possess such parasites would also assist. He had 

 also i-eceived a request from Professor Morgan for specimens of the 

 parasite which he had bred and which Mr. Howard had named. Pro 

 fessor Morgan is anxious to colonize this parasite on 2furgantia his- 

 trionica in Louisiana, and Mr. Johnson had promised to send him 

 parasitized eggs of the harlequin cabbage liug at the earliest oppor- 

 tunity, but up to the present time had been unable to find an}- speci- 

 mens of this destructive pest. Three years ago it was one of the most 

 destructive insects in the Maryland and Virginia cal)l)age-growing 

 sections, but since the freeze of Februarj^, 1899, he had seen very few 

 specimens. He was unable to say whether this was due entirely to 

 the freeze or to the parasites. The parasite is a new species {Enci/'>ius 

 johnmni Howard, Can. Ent., Vol. XXX, pp. 17, 18) and there seems 

 to be some promise of its successful introduction into the South. 



