o 



6 DiaspincE 



The legs {fig. 6) are long and moderately slender. The 'coxa' id) 

 is short and conical. The ' trochanter ' {b) is rather long and 

 roundly dilated at its distal extremity, which usually bears a single 

 longish hair. The ' femur ' {c) is broadly overlapped by the ex- 

 tremity of the trochanter. The * tibia ' {d') is widest at its distal 

 extremity and set with some stout hairs. The single- jointed 

 ' tarsus ' {e), wide at the base, tapers rather abruptly to a point at 

 its extremity, and is also set with stout hairs, particularly on the 

 inner margin. The single ' claw ' (/) is longish and fully pointed. 

 There are from two to four conspicuous knobbed hairs or 'digitules' 

 on the foot. When the full number are present, two of them {Ji) 

 spring from the outer margin of the tarsus, and two {g) from the 

 base of the claw on the inner side ; but in many species one, or 

 sometimes two, of the digitules are missing. The number of 

 digitules in the foot of the male will be found a useful specific 

 character. The two sets of digitules possibly represent suppressed 

 tarsal joints. There is usually a considerable interval between the 

 first and second pair of legs, owing to the elongate prosternum. 



In some few species of Diaspince an apterous form of the male 

 occurs. In these the parts of the body may be modified, the 

 mesothorax not requiring the muscular development and highly 

 chitinised scutes present in the winged forms. The antennae also 

 in the apterous forms may show modification, the joints being 

 often shorter and less distinct, or one or more joints may be 

 suppressed. 



In the latest catalogue of Coccidae (Prof Cockerell's * Check 

 List'), the DiaspincB are divided into fifteen classes — Aspidiottis, 

 CoinstockieUa, Diaspis, Aulacaspis, Pseudoparlatoria, Parlatoria, 

 Syngenaspis, Mytilaspis, Pinnaspis, CJiionaspis, Leucaspis, Isc/maspis, 

 Fiorinia, Poliaspis, and Aoiiidia. Twelve of these have been in- 

 corporated into the following synopsis. I am not sufficiently 

 acquainted with the characters of the other three, Aulacaspis^ 

 P seudoparlatoria, and Pinnaspis, to enable me to separate them 

 satisfactorily ; they appear to be offshoots of the genera Diaspis, 

 Aspidiotiis, and Mytilaspis respectively. 



Those genera not yet recorded from Ceylon are included in 

 round brackets ( ). 



It is difficult with genera that approach each other so closely 

 as do those of the DiaspincB to give concise rules by which they 

 can be confidently separated. The generic characters put forward 

 in the following arrangement must be considered elastic — within 



