4o6 Tachardiince. 



number of antennal joints is often reduced to nine. The head 

 carries four prominent black ocelli. The penial sheath is long and 

 slender, acutely pointed. Tlie posterior extremity of the body 

 carries a pair of long white waxy filaments. 



The female nymph differs from the early adult female princi- 

 pally in the absence of the dorsal spine. 



The young larvae are characterised by the form and structure of 

 the antennae, which are six-jointed, the third very long, the fifth 

 with two very long whip-like hairs on one side, and the sixth 

 broader than the preceding segments. In all the species that I 

 have examined, the tarsal digitules, instead of being at the same 

 level, spring from two points at some distance one behind the 

 other. 



The resinous secretion affords the commercial product known 

 as ' lac ' or ' shellac,' which forms the basis of sealing-wax, French 

 polish, and various varnishes. 



The genus, though not very rich in species, is distributed over 

 both hemispheres. Central America (including the West Indies) 

 heads the list with eighteen species ; Australia comes next with 

 six species ; closely followed by the Indian region with five ; three 

 species have been recorded from Africa, and one from Java. 



Synopsis of Ceylon Species. 



A. Stigmatic processes rigid, densely chitinous ; antennas, three to 



four-jointed CONCHIFERATA. 



B. Stigmatic processes soft and pliable ; antennae rudimentary, 



ia) Stigmatic processes elongate LACCA. 



ib) Stigmatic processes sessile or very short. 



{ay) Resinous capsule more or less spherical ,,,ALBIZZI^. 



(^^) Capsule conspicuously lobed MINUTA. 



