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The vedalia beetle was brought in to the citrus orchards of California in the 1880s to take care of a serious pest, the cottony cushion scale.

Then a parasite of the scale insect was imported from Australia, a small lady beetle called the vedalia.

With the advent of DDT and the even more toxic chemicals to follow, the populations of the vedalia in many sections of California were wiped out.

The vedalia can be maintained only by repeated releases and by the most careful attention to spray schedules, to minimize their contact with insecticides.

Besides the vedalia beetles brought in by Koebele, other importations have been highly successful.