RHYXCOTA. 41 



Every stroller in his garden must be familiar with 

 the ''blight" covering whole branches of the apple 

 trees with white down ; inspection with a lens will 

 reveal countless thousands of little Mealy-bugs in 

 different stages of growth. The female represents a 

 convex brown scale about the size of a small split pea 

 in some species ; she is a most curious and anomalous 

 creature, and exhibits, as West wood truly says, an 

 instance of an annulose animal becoming more and more 

 imperfect as it approaches the imago state ; for the 

 female Coccus has lost all trace of articulations in the 

 body as well as of articulated limbs ; there is no head, 

 legs, or body-rings ; many of the females in the typical 

 groups being in fact " inert and fixed masses of animal 

 matter, motionless, and apparently senseless," resembling 

 vegetable galls more than insect life. The account of 

 the habits of Coccus aceris, communicated to Mr. West- 

 wood by the late Mr. Curtis, will show the habits of 

 this family. The males make their appearance in the 

 winged state in May, when pairing takes place. By the 

 end of June the females have attained their full gravid 

 size ; and on lifting up their bodies, their whole 

 interior, or the entire space betw^een the under surface 

 of the body and the bark of the tree is occupied by 

 white flow^ery-like matter, in which the minute young 

 are to be observed of the size of the smallest dot ; the 

 dead body of the parent forming a covering to the 

 young. In this state they are hexapod, antenniferous, 

 and furnished with two long anal setae. By the end of 

 July the young quit the body of the parent, and ascend 

 to the extremity of the young branches ; tliere they 

 affix themselves by their rostrum, gradually increase ia 



