INTRODUCTION. 7 



S. A. Forbes 4 of the Illinois Experiment Station gave a detailed account of 

 cultures and infection experiments carried on with this fungus. A few 

 sentences from his discussion of the results are here quoted: 



The white muscadine will not spread among vigorous chinch-bugs in the field in 

 very clrv weather to an extent to give this disease any practical value as a means of 

 promptly arresting serious chinch-hug injury under such conditions. : 



It is most likely to catch in low spots, where the soil is kept somewhat moist by 

 dense vegetation, a mat of fallen herbage, or the like. * * * 



If decidedly wet weather follows upon its introduction, even after an interval of 

 several weeks, it is likely to start up and take visible effect ; but continuous rains, 

 depressing the vital energies of the insect, seem commonly requisite to its efficient 

 action. 



Some investigation has been carried on with a number of other ento- 

 mogenous fungi grown in pure cultures. G. F. Atkinson 5 and R. H. Pettit 6 

 studied cultures of Cordyceps, Isaria and Sporotrichuin. R. H. Pettit in 

 his bulletin issued in 1895 included a long bibliography of the literature on 

 entomogenous fungi, to which any one interested in the history of this 

 subject is referred. 



In 1897, P. H. Rolfs, 7 in his bulletin "A Disease of the San Jose Scale," 

 demonstrated that the fungus Sphaerostilbc coccophila could be used in a 

 practical way in combating the San Jose scale in Florida. In 1906, a valu- 

 able paper by J. Parkin, 8 "Fungi Parasitic on Scale Insects," gave a general 

 review and the distribution of the fungus parasites of Coccidae and Aley- 

 rodidae which had been described in all countries up to that time. He 

 referred to a recent publication by Gueguen 9 in France, which is said to be 

 an exhaustive work on the fungus parasites of man and animals. A recent 

 contribution by Dop 1 " on a new fungus parasite in Martinique that has 

 saved the cocoanut industry of that island is also briefly mentioned. 



In Florida, insects belonging to the orders Coccidae and Aleyrodidae 

 are very subject to attacks of fungi. In addition to the six fungus parasites 

 of Alcyrodcs citri here treated of, there are two other fungi which are not 

 found on this insect, although they are quite common on scale insects of 

 Citrus. These are Ophioucctria coccicola E. & E., and Myriangiuw duriaci 

 Mont, both of which are illustrated in Bulletin 94 of the Florida Experi- 

 ment Station. Webber also found on the wax scale Ceroplastcs florldcns'is, 

 the fungus Aschcrsoma turbinata; and he mentions finding on various in- 



4 Experiments with the Muscadine Disease of the Chinch-bug, etc., 111. Agr. Exp. Sta., 



Ikil. :;s, 1S95. 



5 Artificial cultures of an Entomogenous Fungus. Bot. Gaz., Vol. XIX, pp. 129-145, 1894. 

 h Studies in Artificial Cultures of Entomogenous Fungi. Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta. 



Bui. 97, 1S95. 



7 A Fungus Disease of the San Jose Scale. Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 41, 1897. 



8 Annals of Roy. Bot. Card. Peradeniya, Vol. 3, Part 1. 



9 Gueguen, F. Les Champignons parasites de I'homme et des animaux, pp. 252, Paris, 



1904. Bot. Centralbl., XCVI, p. 044. 



" Dop, P. Bull. Sci. France et Belgique. XXXIX, p. 1P>5, 1905. Bot. Centralbl., XCIX, 

 p. 50.*). 



