COFFEE BUG AND COFFEE MILDEW. 6 



distinguished from the male, by being more elliptical, and much 

 more convex. 



" As she increases in size the skin extends and becomes 

 smooth and dry, the rings of the body become effaced, and losing 

 entirely the form of an insect, she has for some time a yellowish 

 pustule-like shape, but ultimately becomes of a roundish-conical 

 form, and of a dark -brown colour. Until she has reached nearly 

 her full size, she still possesses the power of locomotion, and her 

 six feet are easily distinguishable on the under surface of her cor- 

 pulent body ; but at no period of her existence has she wings. 



" It is about the period of attaining her full size that impregna- 

 tion takes place, after which the scale becomes somewhat more 

 conical, assumes a darker colour, and, at length, is permanently 

 fixed to the surface of the plant by means of a cottony substance 

 interposed between it and the cuticle to wliich it adheres, 



" The scale, when full grown, exactly resembles in miniature 

 the hat of a Cornish miner, there being a narrow rim at the base 

 which gives increased surface for attachment. It is about one 

 line and a half in diameter, by about one line deep, and appears per- 

 fectly smooth to the naked eye ; but when examined with a power- 

 ful magnifier, it is found to be studded with very minute warts, 

 which at first sight give it a dotted appearance. It is entirely 

 destitute of hairs, except the margin of the rim, which is ciliated. 



" The number of eggs contained in one of these scales is enor- 

 mous, amounting in one whicli I counted to no less than 691. 

 The eggs are of an oblong shape, of a pale flesh colour, and per- 

 fectly smooth. In some of tlie scales which I have examined, 

 the eggs had just been hatched, and, when laid in the field of 

 the microscope, exactly resembled those masses of life so often 

 seen in dry old cheeses. 



" The insect, I find, belongs to the geims coccus, and is 

 therefore a congener of that which produces the cochineal of 

 commerce. So far as the only books witliin my reach enable 

 me to judge, it seems to be the Coccus adonidum of Linnseus, 

 which he mentions as being common on evergreen trees in Asia, 

 such as the camellia, &c. He gives no description of the male, 

 but his character of the female agrees pretty well with the coffee 

 one, except in being less conical in the scale state. If not the 

 .same, it is a very nearlj^ allied species. 



"It is not till after the pest has been on an estate for two or 

 three years that it shows itself to any alarming extent. During 

 the first year only a few of the ripe scales are seen scattered 

 over the bushes, generally on the younger shoots, sometimes on 

 the margins of the under side of the leaves ; but, should the 

 trees be in bearing, most commonly on the footstalks of the 

 berries. The crop this season does not suffer much, and the ap- 



B 2 



