150 Transactions. — Zoology. 



small caterpillars (lepidopterous ?) were amongst the speci- 

 mens, and Mr. Holmes says that they seem to " eat the 

 Coccids." 



Dactylopius arecse, sp. nov. Plate VIII., figs. 1-6. 



Adult female yellowish-hrown, sometimes reddish, covered 

 with a brownish-yellow coating of meal, \\'hich is not, as 

 usual, cottony, but gi-anular and loosely attached ; elliptical ; 

 convex ; segmented ; abdominal extremity rather truncate ; 

 length about Yx^n. On the segments are many small fine 

 hairs. Anal tubercles very inconspicuous, each bearing four 

 or five longish hairs. Anogenital ring compound, with six 

 hairs. Antennae of eight joints — the last the longest, the first 

 and second very short. Feet slender ; all the joints hairy ; 

 on the trochanter a long seta ; upper and lower digitules fine 

 hairs ; tibia slightly dilated at the tip, and bearing there a 

 short stiff spur. Mentum dimerous, with several spiny hairs 

 at the tip. On the segments of the body are a large number 

 of circular simple spimieret-orifices. 



Second stage of female similar to the adult, but smaller, 

 with antennae of seven joints, and a tibia shorter than the 

 tarsus. 



Larva and male unknown. 



Hab. In New Zealand, underground, on roots of Areca 

 sapida (nikau palm) ; as yet only from Wellington. It differs 

 from the other New Zealand subterranean species, D. 2^ocb, 

 in the granular character of the mealy secretion, and in the 

 spur of the tibia. 



Dactylopius adonidum, Linn. 



This species, not hitherto reported from New Zealand, 

 occurs here in the hothouses and stoves of Government House, 

 \Yellington. At least, the characters belonging to it appear 

 to be so close to those of the common European " mealy-bug" 

 that I do not attempt to separate it. There are several 

 species in Europe so nearly resembling D. adonidum that it 

 is extremely difficult to identify them — e.g., D. citri, Boisduval, 

 D. cyperi or D.pteridis, Signoret, &c. All of them differ from 

 the New Zealand species D. glauciis and D. calceolaria (besides 

 their colour and size) in the presence of conspicuous marginal 

 filaments. 



Dactylopius pose, mihi, " Scale Ins. of N.Z.," p. 101. 



In its natural state, on roots of tussock-grass, underground, 

 this insect excretes only a thin white mealy cotton, visible 

 in small patches about the roots. But, having collected this 

 winter some thirty or forty specimens, and placed them in a 

 glass tube, I was surprised to find that they filled the tube 



