— ft 
217 
Cocoon.—Length, 8.75 millimeters; dark-brown, cocciform or oblate ovoid, com- 
posed of finely comminuted leaf fiber held together with silk. The interior is 
white and silk lined. The pupal stage lasts about 22 days. Time of flight, the 
month of January. 
Adult.—A description of the adult male and female of this species occurs in the 
Phil. Journ, Sci. (1906) 1, No. 3 p. 229. It is quite closely related to Thosea 
minima Semper, from which, according to Semper’s description, it differs chiefly in 
having the prominent antemedial oblique sinuate band extending from near the 
cell spot to the middle of the inner margin. 
Preventives and remedies.—The same methods of treatment apply to 
this species as to the Coconut skipper, though, as in the case of the 
other, there is no possibility of its ever becoming a serious pest. 
SCALE INSECTS. 
With exception of a few species from which useful or commercial prod- 
ucts are obtained, such as the cochineal insect, Liaveia cacti Linn., and 
the lac insect, Tachardia lacca (err, practically all known species of 
scale insects are detrimental to man’s agricultural interests. In some 
parts of the world they do more damage to crops and trees than is due 
to the effects of all the other insects of the region. While, in the Philip- 
pines, this is not so strikingly true in the case of the coconut palm, still 
the damage done to this tree by species of the family Coccide is very 
considerable. It is rare to find a coconut which does not, by its yellow 
or brown leaves, indicate the ravages of these pests. Scale insects differ so 
greatly from ordinary insects that they may easily escape detection. As 
a rule, the commoner forms appear merely as rusty-brown or yellowish 
patches upon the surfaces of the leaves, or on the bark of the stems or 
trunk of the plant. 
Characters —In all species the body of the adult female is either 
covered with a scale formed of a waxy secretion in which the exuvie of 
the earlier stages are compacted or else the body of the insect itself 
assumes a form which suggests a scale or tubercle upon the host plant. 
The males of all species are winged, but on account of their very minute 
size and pale colors escape notice unless they are bred upon the food 
plant under glass, in which case they may be captured upon emerging 
as adults. The newly hatched young of both sexes are, of course, much 
smaller than the adults of either sex and it is almost impossible to see 
them with the naked eye. 
Upon hatching, the young, coming from beneath the parent scale, 
seatter upon the leaf surface in quest of a favorable place to settle. 
Shortly after their first meal, which is obtained by inserting their 
probosces into the succulent part of the leaf or twig, the insects shed 
their skins, but during the period of feeding there will have exuded 
from certain body pores a pale, wax-like secretion which, adhering to 
the first exuvie, after a brief period assumes the form of a scale-like 
covering. 
