Chionaspis. 155 



CHIONASPIS FODIENS, sp. nov. 

 (Plate LV.) 



The female insect does not construct any puparium, but imbeds itself in the 

 tissues of the bark {fig. i) and leaves {fig. 8) of a species of Loranthus without 

 forming any definite cell {figs. 2, 15). The position of the insect is marked by 

 a small wart-like swelling on the surface, with a central depression and perfora- 

 tion which, in fresh examples, is closed by the first pellicle {fig. 9). In older 

 examples the pellicle is usually absent, displaced probably either by the 

 entrance of the male or the exit of the young larvse. The female insect lies in 

 a curved position, with the posterior extremity usually, but not always, directed 

 towards and close to the orifice of the gall. Second pellicle very thin and 

 delicate, closely investing the early adult as in Fiorinia {fig. 12), but becoming 

 ruptured and discarded during subsequent growth. The inclusion of the insect 

 within the substance of the plant cannot be entirely due to the overgrowth of 

 the surrounding tissues, as it penetrates the underlying parts. The entrance 

 must be effected during the second stage, the larval skin always remaining on 

 the surface ; but the means employed by a soft-bodied insect, without limbs or 

 biting mouth-parts, remain a mystery. It can scarcely be mechanical. Possibly 

 chemical action is made use of in the form of some corrosive secretion. 



A single male puparium (untenanted), presumably of this species, was found 

 on one of the leaves. It was placed in a crevice, where the leaf had been 

 partially broken. It was of normal form {fig. 10), snowy white, indistinctly 

 tricarinate, the secretionary area rather short. 



Adult female bright orange {fig. 15), deepening to orange red in older 

 examples {fig. 2); extremity of pygidium dark brown. 'Comma' shaped, the 

 thoracic parts twisted round and bent at right angles to the abdominal parts 

 (^figs. 3, 4, 5), the concavity representing the ventral area. The dorsal area in 

 fully matured examples bears an irregular dark-coloured crest {fig. 4), and on 

 one side of the body are raised lines enclosing a figure-of-eight-shaped space 

 {fig. 5). The whole body is so distorted that it is difficult to determine the 

 true position of the parts. The pygidium is occasionally partly retracted into 

 the preceding segments. 



An examination of the early adult immediately after ecdysis shows it to be 

 of more normal form {fig. n). In this early stage the cephalo-thorax occupies 

 only about one-third of the entire length. It is during subsequent growth that 

 the anterior parts become so strangely distorted. Both pairs of spiracles are 

 accompanied by parastigmatic glands. Antenna with one long and several 

 smaller curved bristles. Divisions of abdomen very indistinct. There appear 

 to be four free segments above the pygidium. Pygidium in early examples 

 {fig. 11) long and narrow, the sides slighty incurved, extremity roundly truncate. 

 Lobes distinct and moderately prominent ; a broadly conical median pair, 



