24 BULLETIN 647, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
leaves were of a clear, bright green, with very little sooting at any- 
time. These trees, however, were receiving better attention than 
the average yard trees about the city. They had been kept well 
pruned and braced; weeds had been kept down, and the trees had 
shown vast improvement over their condition when first taken in 
charge. At no time during the three seasons in which they were 
under care was there any large amount of sooting of figs due to 
mealybugs. The fruit infestations usually were confined to one or 
two mealybugs in the calyx depression and the collection of a small 
group at this point on a small number of them. 
The mealybug conditions for the years 1913 and 1915 were the 
same as described for 1914, both on fig trees and on orange trees in 
the city of New Orleans and in the orange groves proper of Louisiana. 
The sweet seedling trees of Cameron Parish are apparently not sus- 
ceptible to the attacks of the citrus mealybugs at all; at least none 
ever was found on these trees. 
Although certain groups of mealybugs may become larger because 
of heavy ant attendance in Louisiana, the status of this insect does 
not appear to have been changed by the protection received from 
the Argentine ant. The mealybugs usually appear in some trees in 
some of the orange groves as well as on fig trees during April. At 
times they become numerous enough to attract attention for a few 
weeks in May, June, and July, but in the last-named month they 
rapidly disappear, while their enemies increase, and by the last of 
July or early in August hardly any mealybugs can be found. 
The most important enemy of the mealybug in Louisiana appears 
to be the Sicilian mealybug parasite (Pared 'eptomastix abnormis Gir.) . 
Of the numerous predatory enemies, the most conspicuous were cer- 
tain lady-beetles, larvae of the green lacewing flies, larvae of the small 
gray fly Leucopis griseola Fallen, and lepidopterus larvae, of which 
the most prevalent was Laetilia coccidivora Comst. The last-named 
insect has the habit of spinning a more or less tubular web over the 
mealybug groups and feeding under its protection through the larva 
period, thus effectively defending itself against ants and other 
enemies. Another mealybug enemy of less importance, but some- 
times fairly prevalent among mealybugs and other coccids, is a 
species of tubuliferan thrips which has not been identified. 
INFLUENCE OF THE ANT ON ABUNDANCE OF MEALYBUGS ON CITRUS IN CALIFORNIA. 
In parts of Los Angeles County, Cal., the attendance of the Ar- 
gentine ant upon the citrus and other mealybugs has a much more * 
pronounced effect in favoring persistent, heavy infestation than in 
Louisiana. This is especially the case with healthy trees that are 
