71 



Distribution. — Very widely distributed, being found in Europe, the 

 United States, New Zealand, Australia and the West Indies. 



Food-plants. — Very various ; Ixora, peach, orange, oleander, camel- 

 lia, Draceena, orchids, chrysanthemum, Anona muncata, Salvia, Eran- 

 themum, Dendropthora cupressoides. Tabern&montana coronaria, Cycas, 

 guava, Terminalia, &c. 



Destructiveness. — Extremely injurious in gardens, especially on 

 shrubs and creepers ; the number of different plants it is liable to in- 

 fest and its powers of rapid multiplication, make it very difficult to 

 fight. In Jamaica it abounds in the gardens of Kingston, and has 

 been found also at Cinchona, Port Antonio and other places. In 

 Antigua Mr. Barber found it a " terrible pest to variegated Eranthe- 

 mum." and also sent a single scale on a leaf of Terminalia catappa 

 (associated with L. olece and L. begonim), and a pale variety on Salvia. 

 Mr. Barber also reports it from Montserrat, where it infests Cycas. 

 In Trinidad it is found at Port-of-Spain on Eranthemum ; also at San 

 Fernando on a garden plant not specified. 



Enemies. — It is remarkably free from the attacks of parasitic or 

 predaceous insects, but fortunately succumbs to a fungus. This fun- 

 gus was found by me on scales infesting Taberncemontana in Col. 

 White's Grarden in St. Andrew, Jamaica ; it is a white growth, which 

 mummifies the scales, and is probably a state of some Cordyceps. 

 Curiously enough, the same or a very similar fungus was described by 

 Mr. Barber as infesting the scales in Montserrat at about the same 

 time (March- April, 1893) as my account of the Jamaica fungus first 

 appeared ; Mr. Barber's article, together with a reprint of mine, will be 

 found in the Supplement Leeicard Islands Gazette, 22nd June, 1893. 



Variety hibernaculorum, Boisduval. — This is larger than typical 

 iiemisphcericum, but it seems clear that Boisduval and Signoret were 

 mistaken in supposing it a distinct species. It is reported to occur on 

 many different plants ; Brexia, Phajus, &c, especially in greenhouses. 

 Coquillett reports it from pear and orange; in Demerara it is recorded 

 with some doubt as found on Cyrtanthera. Mrs. Swainson sent me a 

 single specimen large enough to be referred to hibernaculorum, which 

 she found on a fern in Jamaica. 



The Broivn Scale on Coffee. — Many years ago the English Entomolo- 

 gist Walker described Lecanium cqffece, a species injurious to coffee in 

 India and Ceylon. It, is likewise found on the tea-plant, but whether 

 it infests garden plants does not seem to have been ascertained. In 

 Ceylon it lives at altitudes above 3,000 ft., and is supposed to be des- 

 troyed by red ants. 



Signoret describes it from specimens sent to him from Bahia, Brazil, 

 where, he says, it appears to cause great havoc in coffee plantations. 



Mr. Barber, in the article above-mentioned, reports Lecanium Iiemis- 

 phcericum as injuring coffee in Montserrat ; with it is found a small 

 red ant, Tatramorium auropunctatum. The facts given by Mr. Barber 

 would at once suggest that he had L. cqffece, but he is familiar with the 

 iiemisphcericum, and would have made no mistake ; besides which he 

 sent specimens to Prof. Riley, the U. S. Entomologist, who confirmed 

 his identification. The explanation of this circumstance is fairly evi- 

 dent, namely, that Iiemisphcericum and cqffece are one and the same 

 species. The close resemblance between them has long been known, 



