I 



259 



erateiy large, on the third, snsaller, and on the fourth, pnuctiform or minute. Legs 

 bhxck, with the same whitish pruinosity ; the immediate tip of feuiora, the base of 

 front and hind tibife, the middle tibicT, and the tarsi, except their tip, yellow, the 

 tibi:e elsewhere and the tip of the tarsi brown or infuscated ; in some specimens, the 

 tibiiv throughout are more brown. Wings hyaline, or faintly clouded ; the auxiliary 

 vein distinctly separated from the first longitudinal, except at tip; the last section 

 of the fifth vein a little shorter than the penultimate one of the fourth. 

 Four specimens, from Professor liiley, labeled "Par. on Coccus cacti." 

 I was, at first, in doubt as to the specific difference of this from L. bella Loew, from 

 Cuba. Aside, however, from the different habitat, there are sufficient differences in 

 coloration to indicate a well-marked variety, at all events. Loew describes his spe- 

 cies as having "Antennae nigrae, albido-poUinosae," the second segment of the abdo- 

 men only, as bearing a " maculam rotundam atram," and " Alae lacteae" in color. 



A species of Drosophila wais also bretl from the mass of Coccids, and 

 this Dr. Willistou determines as Drosophila quinaria Loew. This in- 

 sect, however, is of course not a parasite. 



We notice from the Florida Dispatch of August G, 1888, that the 

 Cochineal Insect has become very abundant upon Opuntias at Jessa- 

 mine, Pasco County, Fla., on the authority of a communication from 

 Walter JST. Pike, of that place. The specimens were determined by Mr. 

 Ashmead. The only previous record of the occurrence of this dye in- 

 sect in Florida is that by Professor Comstock upon page 347 of the 

 annual report of this Department for 1880. Professor Comstock's 

 specimens were collected by Dr. R. S. Turner at Fort George, Fla., 

 upon a yellow-floweriug cactus, the species of which was not deter- 

 mined. 



THE BEET CARRION-BEETLE. 



A notice in the American Agriculturist for September, 1888, to the 

 eftect that the Beet Carrion-beetle {Silpha opaca) has been doing a 

 great deal of damage to mangolds in England the past season, reminds 

 us of the fact, to which attention has not lately been called, that this 

 insect is also (ouud commonly in this country, but that it has never 

 here, so far as records go, been reported as injurious. Like other spe- 

 cies of its family it feeds upon decaying animal and vegetable material. 

 In England, however, it occasionally does great damage to the mangel- 

 wurzel crop. It was first noticed to have this habit in 1844. The dam- 

 age is done by the larva feeding upon the leaves. 



AN AFRICAN LADY-BIRD INTRODUCED INTO NEW ZEALAND. 



Through the kindness of Mr. Henry D. Twohy, of Auckland, we were 

 some time ago favored with the following communication from the 

 Otago Witness of February 3, 1888, which, through an oversight, had 

 not been published. Mr. Twohy suggests that, if it seemed desirable, 

 the same lady-birds could be shipped from Cape Town and landed in 

 New York by way of London in twenty-six days, if the boats made 

 close connection. Our Australian importations, however, are so prom- 

 ising at present that this experiment is hardly worth trying: 



An interesting experiment is being conducted at Nelson iu the way of acclimatiza- 

 tion. It appears that some of the finest trees in and about Nelson have been de- 



