Maskell. — On Coccidae. 71 



swelling of the bark may be detected. In the middle of this 

 swelling may be seen a very minute pustule with an orifice in 

 it. Usually this pustule seems to have nothing in the orifice, 

 or perhaps some particles of dus"t, or sometimes the exuviae of 

 a larva ; but sometimes the "tail" of the insect (described 

 below) protrudes through it, and emerges to perhaps j^in., 

 looking like a very minute soft yellowish finger with a red tip 

 pushed through the bark. In the early adult state the insect 

 is thus only just beneath the bark, but later it burrows much 

 deeper, and the cavity in which the female at gestation lies is 

 frequently hollowed out of the wood itself. In this latest state 

 it requires close examination to detect the position of the 

 insect, as the pustule has almost disappeared, and the swell- 

 ing of the bark is scarcely noticeable. 



Male pupa occupying a much more prominent gall than 

 that of the female. This is a conspicuous excrescence on a 

 twig, often congregated in bunches of half a dozen, more or 

 less cylindrical, generally dark- coloured, hollow, with a 

 terminal orifice, of which the lips are circular and thick. The 

 height of this tubular gall frequently reaches T V n - 



If the bark round one of the small pustules above mentioned 

 is carefully lifted and turned over, the adult female in its early 

 state may be found lying on the wood (or sometimes will be 

 lifted off with the bark) . The body is subcircular ; diameter, 

 about 2*gin. ; colour yellowish, or with a tinge of red. The 

 ventral surface is slightly concave ; the rostrum, which is very 

 small, is central, and placed on a small boss ; the rostral setae 

 are very short. The antennae and feet are entirely absent. 

 The dorsal surface is very slightly convex, and from about the 

 centre springs a subcylindrical process or "tail," which fits 

 into the short tube through the bark, and, as mentioned 

 above, sometimes protrudes through the orifice. This tail is 

 bluntly rounded at the end, and the extremity is usually of a 

 red colour. After preparation, a small, simple, hairless, 

 circular anal ring is seen near the end of the "tail," and at 

 the extreme tip there are two very minute short spines. 



The foregoing is the early adult stage, and the "tail" is 

 doubtless protruded through the orifice in the bark to facilitate 

 the access of the male. After impregnation the female, as 

 stated above, burrows much deeper in the twig. At gestation 

 the insect becomes dull-red in colour, and has increased a good 

 deal in size, reaching ^in. in diameter. It then becomes 

 nothing more than a bag full of eggs and larvae, and scores of 

 the latter may be found crawling all about in the cavity. The 

 "tail," in several of the specimens observed, seems to have 

 rotted or broken off, leaving a hole in the body through which 

 the larvae emerge ; but in others it existed, although much 

 reduced. The only organ visible is the rostrum, which is the 



