441 



So far, then, there have been four attempts to carry Vedalia from one 

 country to another. Those from Australia to California and from Cali- 

 fornia to the Sandwich Islands have been successful, while those just 

 mentioned have been failures. On page 423 of our last number we meu- 

 tioned our correspondence with Rear- Admiral R. W. Blomfield, R. K, 

 Deputy Commissioner-General of Ports and Light-Houses, Alexandria, 

 Egypt, relative to the Egyptian Icerya, which he states threatens to 

 become an eleventh plague. Quite recently (early in July) Mr. 

 Coquillett in accordance with our instructions sent a shipment of 

 Yedalia to Alexandria, and we look forward to information as to their 

 receipt and colonization with great interest. 



In the meantime, as Admiral Blomfield writes us under date of June 

 1, an Alexandrian merchant, a Mr. Carver, received a sending from 

 California friends which purported to contain Vedalia, and certainly did 

 contain some living Lady-birds. These were liberated under the tent 

 prepared for our consignment. Three weeks later the tree was exam- 

 ined and specimens of a Lady-bird were found, which were sent to us 

 for examination. They were not Vedalia, and we are informed that the 

 same species was found free in other portions of the same garden. 

 It resembles Vedalia closely in size. Its color is dark brown, with a 

 lighter band across the elytra, so that it is not very unlike the dark and 

 dirty specimens of Vedalia, which are in the majority.* 



It is worthy of note that Admiral Blom field's sending contained 

 living and healthy specimens of the Egyptian Icerya, which indicates 

 the possibility of a constant food supply for Vedalia on long journeys. 

 It is needless to add that we shall not allow the species to spread in 

 this country. 



Our anticipated sending of Vedalia to the West Indies, for use 

 against the Montserrat Icerya, is no longer necessary, as our correspond- 

 ent, Mr. H. De Courcy Hamilton, has informed us that he has practi- 

 cally exterminated the species by cutting down and burning the infested 

 trees. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH A DATE-PALM SCALE, 



About July 8, 1890, the Department of Agriculture received from 

 Algiers, Africa, nine Date-Palm trees, two to four feet high after having 

 been cut off at the top, and probably from seven to ten years old from 

 suckers. 



*At our request Dr. Geo. H. Horn has made a careful exaniinatiou of the speci- 

 mens on account of the interest attaching to them and informs us, since the above 

 was in type, that it is safe to refer the species to Chilocorus distigma King, found 

 commonly in Abyssinia, Arabia, and Egypt. This renders it tolerably certain tliat 

 an indigenous Egyptian Lady-bird has learned to prey on Icerya. 



