234 [March, 



The camera lucida drawings of the larvae by Mr. LewiB ( X 40) 

 are here reproduced one-half the size. 



Rredaceous enemies of the leery a. — Mr. Lewis also wrote : — 

 " Amongst the debris in the box were a few eggs ; but there were innumerable 

 detached legs and 6kins of young ones for which I could not account, until the dis- 

 covery of a ' ladybird ' explained the probable cause. This assumed destroyer has 

 red elytra without black spots, and is red beneath. It is not a recognised species at 

 the British Museum." 



Mr. C. 0. "Waterhouse thinks that it is probably a variety of 

 Rodolia iceryce, Janson (c/1 infra), and not mature. As there is but 

 one example in this country, this is a difficult matter to determine, and 

 we must wait for more specimens, which I hope to obtain. 



In this connection it may be noted that in his " Report " for 1886, 

 p. 484, Prof. Eiley mentions that in California 



"The ambiguous ladybird (Mippodamia ambigua, Leconte), has been observed 

 feeding upon the eggs of Icerya when they were exposed to view by the egg-sac 

 being broken open ; but neither this nor any other species of ladybird was seen to 

 feed on the adult insect, although commonly attracted by the honey-dew secreted." 



At p. 487 he states that Miss Ormerod has received from Port 

 Elizabeth, Cape Colony, specimens of an undescribed species of 

 Coccinellidte, " which has been exceedingly serviceable in destroying 

 the Australian Bug, as they call it;" and Miss Ormerod "proposes to 

 notice it, with full technical description and a figure, as Rodolia 

 iceryce.' 1 '' 



Miss Ormerod has had the kindness to send me a pamphlet of 36 

 pages compiled by her, and published* primarily for distribution in 

 the districts of South Africa infested with the Icerya, with a view to 

 measures of prevention of its ravages. In this appears a description 

 of the beetle by Mr. O. E. Janson, under the name of Rodolia 

 iceryw, n. sp. 



By a communication from Mr. S. D. Bairstow, President of the 

 Eastern Province Naturalists' Society, South Africa, dated from Port 

 Elizabeth, the services of the larvae of the Rodolia in the destruction 

 of the Icerya appears to be very efficient ; the mode of their operation 

 is thus stated : — 



" The Coccinella is by far our best friend. It is proving a perfect god-send in 

 destroying the perfected young in the nidus of the female ' bug.' The larva buries 

 itself in the gravid female, and completely destroys her progeny, the dead carcase 

 falling to the ground ; and it eats the ' bug' not only when it is young, but when it 

 (the Coccinella) has developed to beetle condition. I have taken as many as five or 



* Notes on the "Australian Bug" (Icerya Purchasi) in South Africa. By Eleanor A. Ormerod. 

 London : Sirnpkin, Marshall & Co., 1887. See also Miss Ormerod's " Report on Injurious Insects," 

 1887, p. 30. 



