367 



irregularly aud faintly carinate. Abdomen smooth, shiny, with patches 01 fine pubes- 

 cence ; a rounded patch on sides of fourth segment, and fifth and sixth segments al- 

 most entirely covered. Fimbria of the metanotal callus quite long and white, and a 

 row of rather long soft white hairs on outer margin of hind coxa?. General color black, 

 with rather indefinite ferruginous markings ; all over the thorax the black is so in- 

 definitely blended with ferruginous as to make it impossfble to define color areas; the 

 ferruginous is more marked, however, on the sides of the pronotum and mesoscutuin : 

 antennae black, scape reddish at base ; all coxie black and punctate ; all trochanters 

 dark honey yellow ; all femora and tibioe black in middle, dark honey yellow at tips ; 

 all tarsi honey yellow ; abdomen ferruginous at base below. Wings narrow, short, 

 reaching when closed only to middle of fifth abdominal segment, perfectly hyaline, 

 veins very dark brown. 



Fig. 70.— Axima zabriskiei.-~Ma.le, side view— enlarged (original. ) 



Male.— Differs only in the antenna? and in the shape of the abdomen, as shown in 

 the figure. The frontal projections and the median projection of the pronotum are 

 sharper and more pronounced than in the female. 



Described from four female and three male specimens from Eev. J. 

 L. Zabriskie, ^yack, ^N". Y., reared from nests of Geratina dupla. 



EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 



The Scale Question in Florida. 



Some time ago ar gentleman from Riverside went to Florida for the purpose of ex- 

 amining the orange groves and nurseries in that State to ascertain their condition in 

 regard to being infested with scale insects, and a short time ago he informed me that 

 there was scarcely a single orange grove in Florida over two years old that is not 

 infested with Mytilaspis citricola. He further stated that many of the orange groves 

 there were as badly injured by this scale as any orange grove in California has been 

 injured by Aspidiotus aurantii. He also stated that next to M. citricola, Mytilaspis 

 gloverii is the next most common species, and next to this is Ceroplastes floridensis. 

 Yesterday a nurseryman, who is engaged in growing orange trees in Florida and ship- 

 ping them into this State, called upon me, and informed me that in Florida Mytilaspis 

 citricola is harmless ; that he has never known it to injure orange trees, during his ten 

 years residence in that State, and that it can not live in Southern California even if 

 imported here. I would like very much to learn from you to what extent M. citricola 

 injures orange trees in Florida. It is the commonest species that I receive for iden- 

 tification on trees coming from Florida, and our citrus growers are very anxious to 

 learn to what extent it is injurious. I would also be glad to learn to what exteut the 

 Six-spotted Mite, which you recently described as the Tvtranychus 6-maculatus, injures 



