374 HENRY SHIMER, M. D. 



Natural History, and especially in Entomology, are deeply laid in thorough, un- 

 tiring observation and investigation, and he that departs from this rock, builds his 

 castle on the sand; hence, it will not endure the storms of time. 



These points of difference, between this insect and the typical Coccidae, are 

 very important, in that the tarsus is terminated by one claw — in this, by none, 

 but having four digituli instead ; iia that the body of the female becomes trans- 

 formed into a scale, in this the female lives beneath the scale, a distinct and 

 separate thing throughout the entire period of her existence. 



In view of this combination of facts, I am persuaded that all close investiga- 

 tors will discover in this, an insect comprising the characters of a new Family, 

 or at least a Sub-Family Coccineae under the Coccidce. The weight of the testi- 

 mony is emphatically in favor of a new Family for the reception of this appa- 

 rently new Genus. The only argument that can, scientifically, be brought to 

 bear against these views, regarding the classification of this insect are, that the 

 examinations of the feet have been derived from the larval state; to this I can 

 but reply, that 1 appreciate the importance of having a winged imago for de- 

 scriiJtion, and to this end made every possible effort to obtain one, and could 

 find no evidence or sign of the existence of such a state, and hence I do not see 

 the propriety of waiting longer for a state, that has never been seen by any one 

 in this country, among the many observers of the present century, and may, 

 and probably will, never be seen, perhaps having no existence whatever. And 

 furthermore, I never find any difficulty in determining the tarsal characters of 

 any of the numerous Aphidians, from examining them in the larval state; the 

 same is true of the DactylosphcEridoe. Like these larvae, this has six true legs, 

 having femur, tibia and tarsus, with true joints, as have other insects; these, 

 therefore, are manifestly no prolegs, and are entitled to our regard in classifica- 

 tion. 



Apparently imperfect and peculiar as are these feet, they appear well adaj>t- 

 to the wants of the insect. I have taken up the young larval " Bark-louse " on 

 the end of a fine needle, and was surprised to witness its ability to retain its 

 footing on so hard and smooth a surface, and it is jarred off of the needle with 

 great difficulty. This proves that the digituli are terminated by a suction or 

 vacuum-producing aj^aratus — puhilii, or more probably planiuae, or perhaps aro- 

 lia — and, therefore, much better adapted to travel with safety over the hard, 

 smooth surface of the bark of the tree, without being blown away by the sweep- 

 ing winds of spring. A fall to the ground would be fatal to the life of tlie in- 

 sect, and if it ventures upon tlie downy young limbs and leaves, the digituli 

 serve them as well as in the case of the " Grape Leaf-louse," as I have already 

 observed, in my paper on the Dactr/losphcerida:. 



Mt. Carroll, III., November 1, 1SG7. 



