THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 127 



NOTES ON SOME SCALE INSECTS OF THE SUB-FAMILY 



DI ASPIN.E. 



BY T. D. A. COCKERELL, LAS CRUCES, NEW MEX. 



The following notes are intended to throw further light on the affini- 

 ties of certain little-known species, which I have lately examined : — 



(i.) Chionaspis major^ Ckll. — Found on Heliotrope at Antigua by 

 Mr. C. A. Barber. The ? resembles that of Diaspis iatiatus, but may 

 be distinguished from it without difficulty. There is only one pair of 

 lobes, and these are very large, elongated, and crenate on both sides ; 

 they touch one another at their bases, but diverge toward their tapering 

 extremities. There is a small spine near the outer edge of each lobe. On 

 the margin beyond the lobes are three spine-like plates, then a shallow 

 notch, then three more plates, then another shallow notch, then a series of 

 from five to eight spine-like plates, mostly large, one especially so. The 

 produced margins of the segments cephalad of this bear spine-like plates, 

 the first counting from the caudal end having nine, the second 5, the third 

 8, the fourth 4 or more, the fifth 4 or more small ones, and the sixth only 

 rudiments. 



This insect is not allied to the common West Indian Chionaspis, C. 

 minor, Maskell, but belongs to the group of C. saiicis, L., etc. The scale 

 is about 4 mm. long, oval, white with brownish exuviae. 



(2.) Diaspis cacti, Comst. n. syn. opuntioe (opunticoia),'^Q\y?>i., Ent. 

 Mo. Mag., 1893, pp. 188, 280. 



Mr. Wickham has sent me some specimens found in a greenhouse at 

 Iowa City, Iowa (coll. M. F. Linder), which lead me to advance the above 

 synonymy. They present all the characters of cacti, and in addition the 

 numerous " spinnerets or pores," and the elongated pores, which form the 

 specific characters of optmticola. I cannot believe that there is a distinct 

 species, D. cacti, resembling the present one in all other respects, but 

 lacking these pores, and must assume that Comstock's description was so 

 far imperfect. My variety opu?itix (Journ. Inst. Jamaica, Vol. I., p. 256), 

 from Jamaica, looks different owing to the much paler exuviae (paler, no 

 doubt, because less exposed), but I can see nothing to distinguish it as a 

 species from cacti. It has the pores of opunticola. 



Mr. Newstead's scales differed also a little in colour from typical 

 cacti, so that three colour-mutations may be distinguished thus : — 



(i.) Exuviae not strongly contrasting with scale, . = opufitice, Ckll, 



