SCALE INSECTS (" COCCIDiE ") OF AUSTRALIA. 21 



.shrubs such as tea, mango, various palms, ficus, ivy, &c. ; on large-leaved 

 (;rees the coccids have the curious habit of following up the ribs of the leaf, so 

 that when badly infested the whole upper surface of the leaf often has a 

 regular pattern outlined upon it; at other times they thickly encrust the 

 small twigs, and blacken the foliage of the whole tree. C. rubens has been 

 recorded uj)on plum, pear, and orange trees, but it is not a common scale in 

 orchards in Australia. 



Adult female reddish brown ; dorsal surface convex ; under surface con- 

 cave ; a little longer than broad ; anal segment elongate, forming a pig-like 

 extremity; anal cleft small; legs small, six-jointed antennae, with the third 

 joint longest. Length, y^j inch. 



Puparium formed of pale pink, hard, semi-opaque crystalline wax, in 

 which the adult female is closely encased, which gives the outer covering a 

 much deeper reddish tint. General foim irregularly lounded, with the 

 dorsal centre convex, but the outer edges irregularly rounded and impressed; 

 marked with bands of opaque white wax. Length, J to J inch. 



782. Ceroplastes rubens. Cat. Coccidse, p. 156. 



Ceroplastes rusci, Linnaeus. 

 Coccus rusci, Syst. Nat. Edition, p. 456. 1758. 



Ceroplastes rusci, Signoret. Amn. Soc. Ent. France, vol. ii., p. 35, pi, 7^ f, 1. 1872. 

 Cerepiastes rusci, 'Nevrstea.d. Tians. Ent. Soc, London, -p. 101. 1897. 



This species has been described under a number of different names, and 

 was first recognised as coccus rusci by Signoret, who gave a good description 

 of this coccid, and figures the three different forms of the puparium that 

 were described by Costa, 1835, under three different names. 



The adult female is enveloped in a mass of white waxy secretion* 

 mottled on the apex and in the inner ring with brownish tints, and might be 

 likened to a tiny cottage loaf with the central portion pressed down ; it is 

 broadly oval, with the outer margin crimped and forming a raised crimped 

 ring round the raised central portion, which sometimes has the centre convex 

 and in others has a slight depression in the centre. Length, 5mm. ; height, 

 2nim. It might be mistaken for a small form of Ceroplastes ceriferus, only it 

 is more regular in shape. 



This coccid has a wide range, from Europe to Algeria, British Guiana, 

 Japan, and Australia, and is recorded upon holly, m\Ttle, and wormwood. 

 Specimens identified by Mr. E. E. Green have been received from Mr. G. F. 

 Hill on Melaleuca sp. from Townsville, Queensland. It is also very plentiful 

 in company with Ceroplastes rubens on the Melaleuca growing in the vicinity 

 of the Tweed River, N.S-W. 



783. Ceroplastes rusci. Cat. Coccidse, p. 156. 



