Two small colonies of Aphytis “C,” a wasp parasite of the fig scale–Lepido-saphes ficus (Signoret)–released in the San Joaquin Valley, one at Merced and the other near Fresno, demonstrated what is almost an axiom in biological control work: if a parasite is destined to succeed, it will take hold immediately after an adequate release on susceptible hosts.

The attempts to establish the parasite Physcus testaceous Masi in California in 1940 were conducted by S. E. Flanders, Professor of Biological Control, University of California, Riverside