CITRUS FEITIT INSECTS IX MEDITEEBANEAN COUXTEIES. 15 



many of the Mediterranean countries than it does in California. In 

 those countries where no artificial control is practiced it was thought 

 that all natural enemies would be more abundant. On the other hand, 

 no place was seen where the numbers equaled those of the California 

 citrus belt, with a possible exception in the case of Ceroplastes rusci L. 

 on the fig, in a few places in Sicily. In Spain, where the black scale 

 was so abundant on citrus trees, very few were attacked by Scutel- 

 lista. Where counts were made the maximum did not exceed 20 per 

 cent, while hundreds of scales were examined in many places with no 

 evidence at all of parasitism. Scutellista, like most insects, has its 

 periods of increase and decrease, and the year 1913 may have been 

 at the end of a depression. But during years when it occurs in 

 fewest numbers in southern California it is much more abundant 

 than it was observed to be in Spain in 1913. In Sicily, also, Scutel- 

 lista was not seen in large numbers anywhere on the black scale on 

 citrus trees. 



Aside from Scutellista the only other enemies of any importance 

 noted were two coccinellids, CMlocorus Iripustulatus L. and Exochomus 

 Jj.-pustula.tus L. These, however, are general feeders, and were seen to 

 occur more abundantly on trees infested with CTirysompJialus dictyo- 

 spermi, Parlatoria zizyplius, and LepidosapJies oechii than on those 

 infested by the black scale. Rhizobius ventralis Er., the most im- 

 portant coccinellid on the black scale in California, was not seen in 

 Spain or Italy. 



CKRYSOMPHALUS DICTYOSPERMI Morg. 1 



DISTRIBUTION AND INJURY. 



Chrysomplialus dictyospermi is found in most of the citrus sections 

 of Spain. It was commonly observed at Malaga, Seville, Murcia, 

 and Valencia. In the Valencia section it was most injurious at 

 Piaporto, Picaha, and Piug. At each of these places fumigation, 

 introduced by Mr. R. S. Woglum, of this bureau, was seen in prac- 

 tice. Hero the scale occasioned severe injury to the trees, mostly 

 through the dropping of the leaves. While it was observed in scattering 

 numbers around Burriana, nowhere was it seen to do any important 

 injury. Why it does not occur there in greater numbers is not 

 known. It was thought that parasites must be at work, but prac- 

 tically no evidence of parasites was seen, so far as examination 

 was made during the month of March. That this scale was not 

 recently introduced in the Burriana district appears to be indi- 

 cated from the fact that it occurs there over such a large area. This 

 scale was also seen occasionally around Alcira in the "Eibera." 



1 Spanish, Piojo rojo; Valenciana, PoZZroi^,- in Murcia and provinces of Andalucia, Cochinellarojo; Italian, 

 Cocciniglia bianco-rosso: Sicilian, Bianca-russa. 



