December, ’24] 
BASINGER: HALCOCERA A CITRUS PEST 
637 
black-eyed cowpeas which had been grown at Spadra, a section which had 
previously been free from weevils. There were only a few bean growers in 
Spadra but that year, 1922, they all produced weevily beans. Investi¬ 
gation showed that one grower after completing his planting in the 
spring had left his bean planter about half full of black-eyed cowpeas. 
These cowpeas had been purchased at a warehouse where some seeds 
were badly infested with B ruckus quadrimaculatus . The seed although 
showing no weevils at planting time must have contained some unde¬ 
veloped weevils because those in the bean planter when found in August 
were heavily infested. In this instance a few neglected cowpeas were 
the direct cause of a serious loss not only to the owner of the neglected 
seeds but to his neighbors as well. 
Other instances where badly infested crops could be traced directly to 
neglected lots of seeds have come under the writers’ observations at 
Puente, Chino, and Modesto, California. 
Weevily lots of beans and cowpeas should be fumigated or heated to 
kill the weevils, and should then be fed to hogs or poultry or should be 
destroyed. All lots of beans and cowpeas should be examined frequently 
to insure against an outbreak of weevils. 
A SUPPOSEDLY BENEFICIAL INSECT DISCOVERED TO BE 
A CITRUS PEST 
By A. J. Basinger, Citrus Experiment Station , Riverside , California 
Abstract 
Holcocera iceryaeella Riley which was formerly recorded as a scale predator and 
scavenger is found also to be a secondary feeder on oranges, causing damage similar 
to that of Tortrix citrana Fer. 
During our investigation of the Orange Tortrix the larva of another 
species of moth has been found doing damage to oranges similar to that 
of Tortrix citrana Fer. Specimens of this moth were sent to Mr. August 
Busck, specialist in Lepidoptera, United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture, Bureau of Entomology and he determined them as Holcocera 
iceryaeella Riley. He expressed surprise that this insect should be found 
injurious to oranges and stated in his correspondence as follows: 
“This species ( Holcocera iceryaeella Riley) is supposed to be actually 
predaceous on the scale insects and hence a beneficial insect. The entire 
genus is composed of species more or less scavenger or secondary feeders. ” 
This moth was first taken in 1886 in the vicinity of Los Angeles by 
Albert Koebele who was then a special agent for the United States De- 
