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Fraxinus americana of american origin, as well as on Ligustrum and 

 Fraxinus of demestic origin. Those which were raised on Fraxinus 

 bungeana var. pubinervis, F. longicuspis, F. americana, F. exelsior, 

 Ligustrum Ibota and L. medium showed successful growth, and secreted 

 large quantities of wax and gave birth to mother insects, those which 

 were raised on Fraxinus sieboldiana, Ligustrum japonicum and Chionan- 

 thus retusus made but imperfect development. 



V. Natural Enemies 



The young larvae of the insects during their movements in search of 

 their abode are often blown away by wind or washed away by rain. 

 Beside these natural disaster which are quite destructive to them they 

 often suffer from parasitic insects or fall victim to insectivorous animals. 



I. Brachytarsus niveovariegatus ROELOFS 

 (COLEOPTERA: Anthribidae) . 



Imago: Length 4-5 mm. Long ovoidal in shape. Head small, 

 concealed under comparatively large pronotum, which is round anteriorly 

 with two protuberances on both sides of its posterior margin. Elitra has 

 nine deep vertical grooves with incisions at the bottom. The antennae of 

 11 segments are brown in color, with short grey hairs; the three apical 

 segments are broad and flattened. The body is black; the protholax, 

 elitra and legs have invariably grey and black scaly pubescence with 

 occasional spots. Tarsus brown with yellowish grey hairs underneath. 



Larva : Body elongated cylindrical, length 5-6 mm, somewhat curved 

 towards ventral surface. Legs rudimentary and terminating in knob-like 

 protuberance. Body milky white, mandibles brown; with brownish 

 pubescence over the body. 



Pupa: Length 4-5 mm. Milky white in color. 



Beetles belonging to Anthribidae with the exception of Brachytarsus 

 generally feed on rotten wood and mushrooms of the Boletus group. It 

 is indeed an exception that this beetle leads a parasitic life on the coccid. 



The imago appears in May, and deposits its eggs on the mother 

 coccids. The larvae when hatched eat the eggs carried on the mother 



