7© Aonidia. 



spinnerets of any kind. Near the base, situated inside the body, is a thickened 

 truncate cone, the lower extremity forming the anal aperture {fig. 21). The 

 i^enital aperture is inconspicuous, close to base of pygidium. Length 0*50 mm. 

 Ureadth i mm. 



Adult male {figs. 16 and i;"* bright reddish ; apodema and sides of thorax 

 darker ; antenna^ purplish, except last joint, which is usually pale ; legs pale 

 yellowish. Ocelli black ; lower pair largest, a prominent colourless tubercle 

 on each side representing the lateral eyes. Antenna^ hairy ; about two- thirds 

 length of body ; ten-jointed, first and second short, third longest ; others 

 gradually decreasing to tenth, which bears two knobbed hairs, one at apex and 

 one at side {fig. iS\ Wings ample, broadly rounded at extremity. Foot with 

 four knobbed hair-like digitules ; tarsus two-thirds length of tibia ; tibia a little 

 shorter than femur. Genital spike half as long as body. Total length i mm, 

 r.readth o'5o mm. 



It will be convenient here to trace the growth of the insect trom its earliest 

 st.ige, and the development of the scale. The young are fully formed within 

 the body of the parent. They are comparatively large, and are deposited singly 

 within the cavity of the second pellicle. Young larva {fig. 13) broadly oval ; 

 antenna^ long and slender ; legs small ; caudal setit not visible being very 

 short and folded back upon the surface of the body ; colour pale purplish. 

 When ready for the first moult, the larva has become broadly pyriform {fig. 20) ; 

 the dorsal surftice is divided up into distinct plates in three longitudinal series 

 eight in each row ; each lateral plate is partially subdivided by a thickened line 

 from the margin ; the sutures project as ridges on the inner surface {fi^. 5), and 

 mould the dorsal surface of the early second stage {fig 3). Before moulting, 

 the larva covers itself with a thin whitish scale with thickened radiating lines, 

 and from the centre of the disc a loose white ball of cottony secretion is formed 

 {fig 2). This in its turn is forced up and thrown off by the growth of fifteen 

 long stout solid colourless glassy horn-shaped processes (four of them con- 

 siderably smaller than the others\ which are at first erect {fig. 6\ but afterwards 

 bend outward from the centre {fi.g. 4). There is besides a stout tapering opaque 

 white process springing from the anal aperture. At this stage the pellicle 

 appears of a deep purple brown colour. It is remarkable that there are appa- 

 rently no pores, glands, or spinnerets on the larva to account for the secretion 

 of these peculiar processes. The processes themselves are of a dense glassy 

 structure, which is unaffected by either alcohol or benzine, but melts with dry 

 heat, producing a smell as of burning gutta percha. The larval pellicle has a 

 diameter of o"5o mm. Up till this stage no sexual differences are apparent. 

 The female insect now increases greatly in size, and finally becomes still more 

 broadly pyriform {fi.g. I9\ The skin is hard and of a chestnut-brown colour. 

 The dorsal surface is covered with a horny scale, in the centre of which remains 

 the first pellicle with its appendages. The scale has now assumed its greatest 

 dimensions, although the second moult has not been effected. The final change 

 is accomplished by a decrease in size, the adult insect being greatly reduced in 

 bulk, and passing the rest of its existence imprisoned within its former shell. 



The male insect, after shedding its first skin, is of a pinkish or creamy 

 white colour. Instead of developing laterally, it becomes slightly elongated, 

 pointed behind, and the segments marked by rounded lobes on the sides. 

 Shortly before assuming the pupal state the ocelli of the future image begin to 



