farther in claiming that, it* a couple of dozen of gravid females of one 

 species of eoccid feeding ladybirds, sach as Orcus and Rhizobius, were 

 liberated in San Francisco upon arrival of steamer, sunn* of t hese would 

 find the proper scales upon which to breed, even if from LG to i"> miles 

 distant, as these Insects are able to go without food for days in the 

 open air, simply sustaining life apon dew or any other moisture, Aphidae, 

 <>r larvae of other insects, as is the case with Orcits australasia Boisd., 

 which will teed upon almost anything, and even breed upon Aphidae and 

 leaf hoppers. The country is full of all such insects at every few yards, 

 and in many places some kind of scales are found upon which they can 

 teed, even if but upon the young o.f same. Even the Coccinella proper, 

 which usually breed apon aphids, are not entirely confined to this food. 

 C. antipotum White do doubt breeding upon Aphis, has been observed 

 in large numbers breeding upon a large eoccid on my former visit in 

 New Zealand, hundreds of their larvae being present and feeding upon 

 Vienochiton riridis Mask. On this last trip Goceinella areuata Pabr. 

 w as found breeding upon Aphids on orauge at Toowooniba, Queensland, 

 while on the Richmond River, New Smith Wales, the same insects 

 were found breeding upon Lecaniuin jilivum Boisd., and again at Levuca, 

 Fiji, they were breeding upon a species of Alctirode.s, infesting the 

 tarn leaves, upon which also another and much larger cocci nellid was 

 feeding, that had been found breeding upon a Ddctylopius at Nausori, 

 Yitn Levu. These and many other instances may be mentioned, show- 

 ing that none of these valuable insects an 1 confined to one particular 

 food. By studying the habits of such individual species below, the 

 reader will come to the same conclusion. In no instance did I 

 meet with Orcus ehalybeus Boisd. feeding in the larva state upon Le- 

 caniuin in Australia, and yet this beetle is breeding successfully upon 

 L. eiem Bern., at Santa Barbara, Oal. 



All insects found preying upon Aphidae and scale insects of whatever 

 species they were had been closely studied in the field, and of most of 

 these the whole life history had become known, as all the unknown larvae 

 found were bred to maturity. This course prevented the .introduction 

 of any during the earlier stages here, thereby introducing the parasites 

 preying upon them, in which case their work upon our coecids would have 

 been by no means so effectual; moreover, this parasite would not only 

 have destroyed the larvae of the introduced species but those of our own 

 species as well, which at the present time seem to be free of such, although 

 Mr. Hubard, in "Insects Affecting the Orange' 1 (p. 74), figures one of 

 these parasites. Homalotylus obsewrua How., which he bred from a 

 Hypixlaiuui larva in Florida. Only in one instance where at the time 

 an apparently new Orcus, 0. nummeralis Boisd., wasfouudina locality 

 not easily reached, all larvae, pupae, and beetles obtainable were for- 

 warded to Mr. Coquillett, with the special request that the box be 

 Opened in a closed room, as these larva* contain parasites destructive 

 to this as well as all our own cocciuellid larvie, and that this insect be 



