-410- 
instancc, Van Zwaluwenburg, quoting Barrett, states that the changa, Sca-pteriscus 
vicinus Scudder, "has "been very trouble seme in Puerto Ri^o only since the hurri- 
cane of 1876, which is supposed to have destroyed most of the insect's "bird ene- 
mies. After 1885 the insect seemed to decrease slightly in numbers until the 
hurricane of August, 1899." 
Surprisingly enough, the insects' most directly affected "by the hurricane are 
the scale insects. The trunks and branches of trees exposed to the full force of 
the wind are smoothed of rough "bark and all projections in a most sur-orising man- 
ner. Of course some scales persist in the crotches and on the netioles of leaves, 
but the breaking off of leaves, twigs, and large branches causes an immediate de- 
crease in their numbers only exceeded "by the mortality caused "by the direct action 
of the wind and rain in rubbing the insects from their host. Desnite the temporary 
very great decrease in the number of scale insects, in the case of the cottony- 
cushion scale, Icerya -ourchasi Mo.sk. . the ultimate effect of the hurricane will 
be to greatly extend its -previously restricted range. Previous to the hurricane, 
its distribution was largely limited to casuarinas and citrus trees in San Juan 
and .Santurce, and to citrus groves along the coast to a little west of Dorado, ex- 
tending inland only to Pueblo Yiejo and Bayamon in small and scattered infesta- 
tions. Owing to the effect of the fungus in the summer, and more recently to the 
greatly increased numbers of Australian lady beetles, ( Vedalia ) Rodolia cardinglis 
Mulsant, both in citrus groves and on casuarina trees, coupled with effective 
spraying, the numhers of this new pest had "been greatly reduced. Since the hurri- 
cane, only a few small scales can be found on the trees previously even most 
heavily infested, but as this foreign scale can thrive on many kinds of native 
trees and plants, its distribution has presumably been greatly extended to the 
south and West of its former range. 
Specimens of a scale (tentatively identified by me as Saissetia oleae Bern.) 
are very abundant on a considerable number of Ficus sp. trees along the road 
south from Fajardo, "blackening their branches and in some cases causing consider- 
able defoliation. I do not -previously remember having noted this scale in such 
large numbers and on so many trees. As to the species of Ficus, it is not nitida 
and not laevigata . 
A NOTE FROM CUBA 
A PYRAXID ( Homo eo soma elcctellum Hulst) 
Cuba. A. Busck. in tw letters, of September 8 and 20, Dr. S. C. Bruner, Chief 
of the Department of Entomology, Estacion Experimental Agronomica, Santiago' 
de las Vegas, Cuba, reports 21,600 acres of commercial sunflower, planted 
near Madruga, eastern Havana Province, . seriously injured by H. eject ell n Jm 
(Heinrich det.), 5Q0 acres being nearly ruined. 
