THE ANIMAL LIFE OF THE GROri\ 393 



to show that the scale insect life of TTawaii levies a heavy lax on plant urowlh 

 in the islands. 



Fortunatel.N', the expei-ience of the oi"an<ie growers of Califoi'iiia in tlieir 

 successful attempts at curbing- the invasion of a scale-'* which had Iteen acci- 

 dentally introduced from Australia and had spread with great rapidity, was 

 turned to account in Hawaii. The plan of checking injurious insects by their 

 natural enemies in that State, in the above instance, was so signally successful 

 that ^Ir. A. Koebele, wiio was in charge of the woi'k, was induced to come to 

 the islands to put into operation the natural enemy method of warfare which 

 has since avou many brilliant battles against tlie injui'ions insect pests in the 

 interest of the Territory. 



The Ladybird Beetles. 



Under ]Mr. Koebele 's guidance, with the aid of his associates, many bene- 

 ficial insects have been brought to Hawaii from the most remote quarters of 

 the earth. Few, however, have been more generally useful in their habits than 

 those of the ladybird beetle-*^ family. The "ladybirds" as they are familiarly 

 known, are snuill. more or less hemispherical beetles that vary greatly in coh)r, 

 but most often are red, yelloAV, black or steely blue, and are usually, though 

 not always, mottled or spotted with bright colors. The larva? are sometimes 

 spotted, but nu)re commonly are marked with warts and spines. There are 

 more than a thousand species, some of which are found in the native fauna of 

 almost every part of the world except Hawaii. As most of the species are 

 predaceous, both in the adult and larval form, and are especially fond of the 

 plant aphids, mealy bugs and scales, their introduction into the islands has 

 been going on steadily for years. A long list has been liberated, and the indi- 

 viduals have established themselves to such an extent that there is scarcely 

 an ornamental plant, fruit or shade tree in Hawaii on which these useful 

 insects cannot be found by a close observer, at some time during the day. The 

 more common species have suggestive, descriptive names that aid the observer 

 in his efforts to identify the insects at sight. Among those easil\' recognized 

 are the yellow-shouldered ladybird,-" the ten-spotted ladybird.-^ llie vedjilia 

 ladybird,--' which was fii'st successfully introduced from Austi-alia into Cali- 

 fornia to feed on the fluted scale, and from there brought to Hawaii as earl\- as 



-" Icerya purchani. -'^ Cuccineltiilir. "' I'liitniniiiit.- Uridis/astfr. -^ Cocl(i}ilinr(j jiiiiiillatn. 



^^ Novius cardinaliK. 



Dbscriptiox of Plate. 



1. Kamehameha Butterfly {Vanessa iammcamca). 2. KMincliamclia liiitterfly {Vanessa 

 iammeamea) inverted. 3. Cabbage Butterly {Pontia rapa'). 4. ('al)l)aire Butterfly {Ponfia 

 ^■apa') inverted. 5. Dragon Fly {Anax Junius). 6. Pantala /lavesccns. 7. Sj/tnpetruni 

 blackburni. 8. Periplaneta americana. 9. Oxya velox. 10. Brachymctopa diseolor. 11. 

 Xyphidium raripenne. 12. Atraciomorpha erenaiiecps. 13. Elim(jea ajipcndieulata. 14. 

 Paratenodera sinensis; (Egg case). 1.1. Paratenodera sinensis. 16. GnjJhttidpa africana. 

 17. Leueophcfa .surinanesis. 1(S. Eleutheroda di/tiseoides. 19. EuHii/nliajiha parifica. 20. 

 PliyUodromia hieroolijhica. 21. Eleutheroda di/tiscoides. 22. EleuiJieroda dyti.ieoides ; 

 (Nymph). 23. GnjUodes poeyi. 24. Periphaneta australasice. 2."). Atractomarpha crenati- 

 ceps. 



24 



