FOREWORD


 This scholarly treatment of the soft scales of
Florida by Hamon and Williams fulfills a need
which has grown over a period of many years. It
provides a reference useful both for field iden-
tification of some species of soft scales and for the
accurate identification in the laboratory of all
species known to occur or which are likely to be
found in Florida. This publication should be
useful in the identification of soft scales over an
area much greater than Florida, as the
dichotomous keys are not restricted to those
species known to occur in Florida. This is the first
definitive treatment of the soft scales of Florida
and neighboring parts of the United States.
 The extensive host list, containing more than
1,500 plant names, provides a place to begin for
field identifications, and the diagnoses and
photographs will facilitate greatly the making of
field identifications. However, only properly
prepared microscope slides of scale insects are
definitive for accurate specific identifications.
The highly detailed line drawings of all species of
soft scales known to occur in Florida should
facilitate identification. The distribution maps
include all states of the United States except
Alaska and Hawaii. Information included on
parasites and predators will be pertinent to the
increasing emphasis placed on biological control
of scale insects and other insect pests as an alter-
native to excessive use of pesticides.
 Dr. Avas B. Hamon was born in Ripley, West
Virginia, on 8 March 1940, son of O. M. and
Lucy F. Hamon. One of 6 children, he has 4
sisters and a brother. In 1965 he married Donna
F. Newhouse of Sissonville, West Virginia. Avas
was educated in the public schools of Jackson
County, West Virginia and graduated from
Ripley High School. He received the Bachelor of
Science degree in Biology from Morris Harvey
College, Charleston, West Virginia (now Univer-
sity of Charleston) and the Master of Science
degree in Biological Sciences from Marshall
University, Huntington, West Virginia. He
served in the United States Air Force from 1962
to 1966 as a member of a missile launch crew for
advanced ballistics and re-entry systems. From
1969 to 1973 he was employed by the Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Commerce as a


Regulatory Inspector in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
In 1973 he began working toward the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Entomology at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Blacksburg, Virginia, where he studied under
Dr. Michael Kosztarab, a recognized world
authority on the biosystematics of scale insects.
The degree requirements were completed in Oc-
tober 1976. Since then he has been employed as a
Taxonomic Entomologist with the Division of
Plant Industry, Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services, in
Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Hamon is an Associate
Curator of the Florida State Collection of Arth-
ropods, an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the
Department of Entomology and Nematology of
the University of Florida, and a Courtesy
Associate Professor in the Department of En-
tomology and Structural Pest Control of Florida
A & M University. He is a member of the En-
tomological Society of America, the Florida En-
tomological Society, American Registry of Pro-
fessional Entomologists, and has been listed in
American Men and Women of Science and in
Who's Who in the South. He is a member of
Sigma Xi honorary society. He is author or
coauthor of 29 scientific publications.
 Dr. Michael L. Williams, or "Mike" as he is
generally called, was born in Paragould, Arkan-
sas, 11 September 1943. In 1962 he married
Carolyn Grace Mack. They have 2 children,
Michael Gregory and Kathryn Grace, and a
granddaughter, Toni Michelle. Mike received his
Bachelor of Science degree in 1967 from Arkan-
sas State University with a major in Biology and
a minor in Chemistry; Master of Science (1969)
and Doctor of Philosophy degrees (1972) from
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univer-
sity with majors in Entomology and minors in
Botany. Like Avas, Mike studied under Dr.
Michael Kosztarab. While at VPI, Mike held a
National Science Foundation traineeship, Na-
tional Defense Education Act fellowship, and
both teaching and research assistantships in the
Department of Entomology. In 1969 he was
awarded the Sigma Xi Outstanding Graduate
Student Research Award from the VPI Chapter
for his work on the "Morphology and Systematics