48 



died out entirely. In most cases the common Galifornian Seymnus mar- 

 ginicollis is mistaken for BMzobius -debilis and sometimes for lophanice 



as well. BMzobius debilis does not occur in any of tlie collections in 

 California, except in imported specimens. 



Bhizobius lophantee was probably in California before it was sent in 

 by Koebele, and must have been accidentally introduced quite a number 

 of years ago. It was already among the mountains some miles north 

 of Pomona in 1891, and was taken in some numbers in San Diego in 

 1892. It is an insect that is at least as abundant in the woods and on 

 the shrubbery of the mountains as it is in cultivated orchards, and 

 though specimens of it seem to be found almost everywhere, yet they 

 never occur in any such numbers as to make the species a factor in 

 keeping down scale insects. Aside from the Vedalia sm&lfovius, which 

 feed upon the Cottony Cushion scale, the species mentioned are the only 

 ones that have been in any way established in the State. Perhaps 

 Orcus elialybeus should be referred to here, because that is still to be 

 found in small numbers in one orchard not far from Los Angeles. It 

 has not increased, however, since the first year or two. and, on the con- 

 trary, seems rather to be dying out just as 0. australasice did two years 

 previously. Taking everything into consideration, there is nothing that 

 warrants the assertions put forth by the horticulturists of California. 

 There is no doubt that the native parasites of scale insects are very 

 efficient in keeping down the insects to some extent; but of the 60 

 species imported by Koebele, in many thousands of specimens there is 

 not one that can be considered a success at the present time. Of course 

 there is a belief to the contrary, and some superficial evidence to sus- 

 tain it; but there is at least as much evidence in the opposite direction, 

 and it seems to me that the state of affairs hardly warrants the discon- 

 tinuance of destructive measures against the injurious insects. 



Mr. Howard said that the paper just read by Mr. Smith was one of 

 the most important of the session, and that he was interested to know 

 that Mr. Smith's observations corroborated Mr. Riley in his prophecy as 

 to the futility of these later and miscellaneous importations. Even if 

 Mr. Koebele has proved to be a poor prophet, however, no one will deny 

 that he is an excellent collector and good observer, and at the time of 

 his very favorable report of the condition of these importations, made 

 at Mr. Ei ley's request (see Insect Life), the outlook was much more 

 flattering than it now is, the situation having evidently in the mean- 

 time altered very materially. With reference to the explanation offered 

 by Mr. Smith for the failure of these importations to become well estab- 

 lished, viz, the unsuitability of the climate, he suspected that there 

 might be another partial explanation in that Mr. Koebele had undoubt- 

 edly introduced au important parasite of the ladybirds (a species of 

 Homalotylus), entirely inadvertently, and that the matter had been 



