SUBFAMILY XYLOCOCCINAE 83 



is ruptured and the female presents the end of her body at the 

 crevice in the bark for the reception of the male. 



The nymphs which develop into males never form pits like 

 those of the female nymphs. They are apt to assemble in the 

 vicinitj^ of some older females and to establish themselves under the 

 protection of her accumulation of wax. This makes its possible 

 for them to escape later. 



The males of the first nymphal stage are, as noted, similar 

 to the females. They differ from the females in that at the first 

 molt they do not lose their antennae and legs. They also retain 

 their rostrum and rostralis and feed like the females. 



According to Pergande the males molt five times and pass 

 through five nymphal stages. Florence in the species which she 

 examined only found four nymphal stages. The male nymphs at 

 the second molt, the third nymphal stage, lose their legs and 

 antennae but retain their rostrum and rostralis. They closely 

 resemble the female nymphs of the third stage. At the third molt 

 the rostrum and rostralis are lost and the insect regains its legs 

 and antennae. During this stage, the fourth nymphal stage, the 

 insect leaves its v/axen cyst and wanders about. The body is soon 

 covered with little tessellations of cottony wax which forms a loose 

 flocculent follicle. The insect rests in this follicle until ready for 

 the fourth molt. Neither of the accounts make clear whether these 

 legs and antennae are new nymphal appendages or are the ap- 

 pendages that are passed on later to the adult. At the fourth molt, 

 which is usually passed under some sheltering fragment of bark, 

 the male appears with wing-pads and protuberances surrounding 

 the genital organs. The fifth stage nymph wanders about freely 

 for a time, but eventually covers itself with a cylindrical cocoon of 

 threads of wax. It later breaks its way out of this follicle, molts 

 its cuticle for the fifth time, and transforms to a winged adult. 



The adult male is provided with coarsely faceted compound 

 eyes and is said to be without ocelli. The abdomen bears a short 

 style, a long penis, and the sixth and seventh abdominal segments 

 bear a dense brush of delicate thread-like filaments of wax. The 

 metathoracic wings are of interest in that they contain veins, 

 proving that the halteres of the males of the specialized families 

 are modified wings. The males emerge during the fall and winter 

 and females with eggs are found during the winter and spring. 

 The eggs of a single female hatch over a long period of time, five 

 to six weeks. 



