Marriner. — On a New Species of Psyllidse. 305 



Art. XXXIV. — On a New Species of Psyllidae. 



By George E. Marriner, Assistant, Biological Laboratory, 



Canterbury College. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 26th November, 



1902.] 



Plates XXXIII. and XXXIV. 



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The Psyilido? are a family of insects belonging to the order 

 Homoptera, and are more closely allied to the Aphidida 

 than to the Coccidce. The only species that have been re- 

 ported from New Zealand are, as far as I can ascertain, 

 several described by the late Mr. W. M. Maskell in 1889.* 

 Several entomologists of Europe and America have studied 

 this group — namely, Dr. F. Low, of Germany; Mr. J. Scott, 

 of England ; M. V. Slingerlaud, of the United States of 

 America; and E. Witlaczil, of Austria. 



About the beginning of 1902 a branch of the so-called 

 matipo (Pittosporum tenuifolium) covered with numerous scale- 

 insects was sent to me. On examining them I found them 

 to be a species of Psyllidce, which appears to be intermediate 

 between two species described by Mr. Maskell. The follow- 

 ing is the specific description : — 



Trioza alexina, sp. nov. Plates XXXIII. and XXXIV. 



Imago. — Eyes not very prominent, but large ; the inner 

 edges form an obtuse angle. The ocelli (Plate XXXIII. , 

 fig. 4), consisting of a lens and a quantity of brown pigment, 

 are three in number, one at the angle of each eye and one 

 in the front of the head (Plate XXXIII. , fig. 3). The fore 

 wing (Plate XXXIII. , fig. 1) is more like that of Trioza 

 panaris in venation but that of Trioza pellucida in shape, but 

 resembles the typical wing of the genus more closely than 

 either of them. 



The primary stalk of the veins (Plate XXXIII. , fig. 1, AB) 

 divides directly into three main branches at the point B — 

 viz., (1.) An upper main branch, the stalk of the subcosta 

 (BF), which again divides into two about halfway (F) to 

 the margin. A shorter branch (FG) runs on to the margin, 

 and a longer vein, the radius (FH), runs towards the apex of 



* Trans. N.Z. Inst., 1889. 

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