of parasites; to procure and despatch same if effective." The representatives 

 of Queensland, South Australia, and New South Wales agreed to this, and 

 that the expenses should be shared by the four States. 



The scope of the investigations was considerably enlarged before I started. 

 Queensland suggested that I should visit India and Ceylon, in order to see 

 the species of fruit-flies allied to thit known as the Queensland Fruit-fly ; 

 and my instructions were to go to those places where pests could be best 

 studied, and information obtained on entomological subjects. Furnished with 

 credentials from each of the four States represented, I left Sydney on 8th 

 July for San Francisco, via Hawaii. 



Honolulu was reached on the 14th of July, where I remained for three 

 \veeks. During that time I placed myself, first, in the hands of the Federal 

 Department of Agriculture ; Mr. Jared Smith is Director, and Mr. Van Dine, 

 Entomologist ; and most of my official work was done at the Experiment 

 Station, with the assistance of these gentlemen. 



Besides the United Stites Department of Agriculture, there are at 

 Honolulu two other institutions at which entomological work is carried out 

 the experiment station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association, where, 

 under the director, Mr. R. C. L. Perkins, there are six other entomologists in 

 the Entomological Division. The staff carry out investigations in the control 

 of the pests of sugar-cane, and, therefore, do not pay any attention to fruit-flies 

 or orchard pests. Messrs. Perkins and Kirkaldy have been for some time 

 describing new species of all kinds of insects, which in many cases have 

 little to do with economic entomology or pests of sugar-cane, though they 

 form a fine set of monographs of the inseots dealt with, obtained by their 

 collectors. 



It is under the direction of this Experiment Station that some daring 

 experiments have been made in economic entomology. Among these may 

 be instanced the introduction of foreign pest insects to destroy introduced 

 injurious vegetation. Much of the waste land of the Hawaiian Islands, denuded 

 of its indigenous forest flora at a very early date, is now overrun with a 

 low scrub of lantana, guava, and a prickly acacia. The planters claimed 

 that it was too expensive to clear these lands of lantana, and Mr. Koebele 

 spent a season in Mexico, collecting any insects breeding in or upon lantana. 

 He sent over several microlepidoptera and small butterflies, whose caterpillars 

 feed upon the flowers, foliage, and seeds ; a gall-making fly (Entreta sparsa, 

 Wied.) ; a leaf -mining fly (Litho-colletis, sp.) ; a defoliating leaf bug (Teleo- 

 nemia scrupulosa), and moth and beetle larvse to devour the roots of the 

 unfortunate plant. It was claimed that within about two years the lantana 

 had not only been checked by the destruction of its seeds, but that it was 

 dying out in large areas all over the islands. I examined a great deal of 

 this scrub on the slopes of Mount Tantilu*, and other places on which these 

 pests had been liberated, and though the seeds were not so plentiful as upon 

 the other side of the island, none of the plants were dead. However, upon 

 the poorer land some plants had lost a good many leaves through the action 

 of the plant bugs. 



The Mealy Bug pest (Orthesia insignia), one of the most injurious pests to 

 the tea plant in Ceylon, was accidentally introduced into the island of Maui, 

 and is commonly known as the " Maui blight." It is the most destructive 

 insect to the lan'ana. Though accidentally introduced originally, it has 

 been purposely scattered over the islands by the planters, and may some day 

 become a very serious pest to cultivated plants. Whatever may be said in 

 favour of introducing insect parasites to destroy injurious insects, nothing, 



