174 Transactions. — Zoology. 



the third is very long ; the last bears at the tip two minute 

 spines. Wings white, immaculate. Eyes red, simply divided. 



Pupa white ; elliptical ; rather thick, with perpendicular 

 sides ; edges smooth, without hairs ; dorsum slightly convex. 



Larva yellow ; elliptical ; very thin ; dorsum flat ; abdo- 

 minal segments indistinct ; orifice ovate. Margin surrounded 

 by a very long white fringe of loose, rather thick, waxy 

 threads, many of which are as long as the whole breadth of 

 the test ; amongst these threads there is often a good deal of 

 white waxy meal. No threads usually on the dorsum, but 

 sometimes one or two may be observed on the cephalic 

 region. 



Hab. On Asj^lenijim lucidum and other ferns, in New 

 Zealand. 



A. vaporarioruvi, Westwood, a species originally from 

 Brazil, but apparently common in hothouses in Europe, ex- 

 hibits a loose fringe of threads similar to that of our insect in 

 the larval stage ; but these threads are, with the exception of 

 some of extreme length, much shorter than those of A. asple- 

 nii, and there are, moreover, many of them on the dorsal 

 surface. I find, also, no mention in the description of West- 

 wood's species (Sign., "Monog.," p. 387) of any great difference 

 between the larva and the pupa. Usually, amongst Aleuro- 

 didce, it is not possible to distinguish exactly between these 

 two states ; the metamorphosis takes place so gradually, and 

 the general characters are so similar, that authors seem to 

 write indiscriminately of one and the other. But in A. 

 asplenii the white, hairless, thick pupa is so different from the 

 yellow, thin larva, with long fringe, that they are quite dis- 

 tinct. A further character differentiating our species may be 

 the adult antenna, which is very long, whereas in A. vapora- 

 riorum it is exceptionally short. 



Aleurodes melicyti, sp. nov. Plate XIII. , figs. 21-24. 

 Asterochiton aureus, mihi (" Trans. N.Z. Inst.," 1878, 

 p. 216). 



Adult insect yellow, slightly patched with brown ; length 

 about a^n. General foi-m normal. Antennae rather long ; 

 second joint three times as long as the first ; third joint rather 

 thick, the rest slender ; all numerously ringed except the two 

 first, and bearing very short, fine hairs ; on the last two 

 minute spines at the tip. Eeet normal. Eostrum short, but 

 there is a mentum of great length, reaching to the first segment 

 of the abdomen, trimerous, the middle joint the longest, the 

 last conical. Wings white, probably immaculate, but there 

 may be a faint patch near the tip. 



Pupa almost circular, very thin, flat ; colour of test rich- 

 golden or orange, the pupa dark-brown ; the rudimentary legs 



