1890.] 19 



on his arrival here my friend brought me the jar and asked me what 

 he ought to do with them. I found at least eighty Coccinellids alive 

 and thriving, and I advised that they should be taken across to Nelson 

 (in the other island), where Icerya was literally swarming, and care- 

 fully looked after there. Here, in "Wellington, and in an area of more 

 than 100 miles radius, Icerya has never yet appeared, for some reason 

 unknown to me ; so that I could not do anything myself to help in 

 the work, but I advised my friend to select some handy-sized shrub at 

 Nelson, cover it with a gauze tent, securely pegged down, and put his 

 Coccinellids on it, so that they might get acclimatised under inspection. 

 He choose a lemon tree covered with Icerya ; but, like a good many 

 other things in this country, the experiment was spoilt : my friend 

 left Nelson, the people neglected the gauze covering, and all the Coc- 

 cinellids escaped. Still, for aught 1 know, they may be thriving well 

 enough, although none have been seen since. These were Mr. 

 Bairstow's Natal Coccinellce ; probably, I suppose, Miss Ormerod's 

 Hodolia icerycB : a very large species, and, in my specimens, not 

 spotted. 



But whether these particular insects are at work or not in Nelson, 

 it appears to be a certain and gratifying fact that our New Zealand 

 species are destroying Icerya rapidly at Auckland and Napier. And 

 it is for this reason that I do not urge in this country the importation 

 of exotic parasites. Time will show whether the good results of the 

 past two years are going to be permanent ; at present, I feel by no 

 means dissatisfied with our native Coccinellce. 



I venture to close this note with a remark on the name Icerya, 

 about which I believe there has been some controversy in America. 

 The name was given by Dr. Signoret, in compliment to his friend Dr. 

 leery, who, as I understand, sent the first specimens of /. sacchari, the 

 " pou a poche blanche," from Mauritius. 



Wellington, N. Z. : 



May 29th, 1889. 



Habits of the honey-moth. — Early this summer, my old friend, the Eev. Henry 

 Williams, of Croxton, Tlietford, sent me a large piece of old discoloured honey-comb 

 containing larvae of Galleria cereana (mellonellaj . These larvae were by no means 

 beautiful, being very much more lite those of Tipula oleracea (Daddy Longlegs) 

 than any other Lepidopterous larva that I have seen, and they had something of a 

 similar loose rolling movement when at comparative rest. They vrere plump, soft, 

 and smooth, with well divided segments and tapered at each extremity, dull pale 

 grey above, pale yellowish beneath, the spots invisible, and hairs extremely short 

 and delicate ; head dark chestnut, with dark brown mouth ; dorsal plate dark chest- 



L; 1: 



