Fighting Pests with Insect Allies 



years with inferior washes and quack nostrums, 

 and from lack of success had become disgusted 

 with the whole idea of using liquid compounds. 

 Something easier, something more radical was 

 necessary in his disheartened condition. 



Meantime, after much sifting of evidence and 

 much correspondence with naturalists in many 

 parts of the world, Professor Riley had decided 

 that the white scale was a native of Australia, 

 and had been first brought over to California 

 accidentally upon Australian plants. In the 

 same way it was found to have reached South 

 Africa and New Zealand, in both of which 

 colonies it had greatly increased, and had 

 become just such a pest as it is in California. 

 In Australia, however, its native home, it did 

 not seem to be abundant, and was not known 

 as a pest — a somewhat surprising state of affairs, 

 which put the entomologist on the track of 

 the results which proved of such great value 

 to California. He reasoned that, in his native 

 home, with the same food plants upon which 

 it flourished abroad in such great abundance, 

 it would undoubtedly do the same damage 

 that it does in South Africa, New Zealand, 

 and California, if there were not in Australia 

 some natural enemy, probable some insect 

 parasite or predatory beetle, which killed it off. 

 It became therefore important to send a trained 

 man to Australia to investigate this promising 

 line. 



After many difficulties in arranging prelim- 

 125 



