80 [September, 



transverse fasciae (described above). We think that this species is 

 only a variety o£ iilmi, which is fasciated nnder certain circumstances, 

 as we have taken the opportunity to remark respecting tiJice, corni^ &c., 

 and wliich may be caused by an unhealthy condition, or by the insect 

 not having been fecundated, or by other unknown circumstances." I 

 may, I think, add that this marking may exist only in the young stage 

 of life, in the same manner that maculation of tlie scale is frequently 

 observed then in other species, and that it disappears when the insect 

 becomes adult. 



Signoret (Ess. Cochin., p. 262) says of this species : — 



"The scale is chestnut-bro'wii, round, liemispherie, very convex, 7 mm. long by 

 5 wide and high, appearing smooth under a lens, but under the microscope showing 

 the punctuation and tesselation of L. pyri, corni, tilicB, and others. 



" This species, very near to those described above, is distinguished by having 

 seven joints in the antennae, the 3rd hairless, very long, as long as the 4th, 5th, and 

 6th together, these three and the 7th very short and nearly equal ; the legs stout, 

 the tarsus one time shorter than the tibia, the claw strong, the digitules very short 

 and slender, those of the claw not extending beyond it ; the anal lobes with four 

 hairs on the outer and two on the inner side, the genital ring with eight hairs. 



" The male is small, yellow ; anteunffi of six joints, of which the 4th is the 

 longest, the others diminishing consecutively to the 10th, which is very short, and 

 has two knobbed hairs larger than the others. The pigmentary circle has ten eyes, 

 four large and six small, or ocelli. The thorax has a broad, brown, transverse band. 

 The abdomen a little less broad, diminishes to its extremity, which has the two 

 ordinary long filaments, and the stylet which is as long as the abdomen ; the last 

 segment has two siiiall tubercles near the insertion of the filaments. The elytra are 

 transparent, with a tint a little shaded towards the margin. The halteres are stout, 

 and have two filaments at the extremity. The legs are very long and pubescent ; 

 the tarsi one-fifth of the length of the tibia." 



I thought it desirable to transcribe the foregoing description, not 

 only as a definition of the species, but in order to show the nature 

 and the minuteness of the characters relied upon for specific dis- 

 tinctions in this genus. 



Lecanium alni, Modeer. 



In the " Gotheborgska Vetenskaps Handlingar," i, 23 (1778), 

 Modeer described a Coccus alni thus : " Female oblong-ovate, convex, 

 light brown-reddish, without wool or farinose matter (utan ull eller 

 doft) ; on the angles or axils of branches of alder trees." 



On the 24th December last, at Lewisham, on an alder tree (Alnus 

 glutinosa) growing by the side of a pond, I found such scales as these, 

 evidently a Lecanium ; of course they were of the previous season 

 and were discoloured, but 1 made a mental note that in the spring I 



