248 THE ENTOMOLOGIST, 



SOUTH AFRICAN COCCID^. 



By T. D. a. Cockerell, 



(Concluded from p. 227.) 



Lopliococcus mirahilis, n. sp. 



? . Adult very convex, 10 millim. long, 8 broad, and 7 high, 

 exclusive of the dorsal spine ; very strongly chitinised throughout, 

 hard, tough but brittle, blackish brown, rugose and dull, with a thin 

 coating of granular wax ; on the middle of the back is a stout erect 

 spine about 3 millim. long, like a spike on a military helmet ; on each 

 side is a pair of short stout spines in the subdorsal region, the posterior 

 smaller and not amounting to more than a nodule ; anterior end of 

 insect somewhat elevated, with two more or less developed blunt and 

 thick longitudinal keels ; margin nodular ; on the under surface the 

 thoracic region is firmly attached to the bark, so that when the insect 

 is taken off a piece of bark comes with it. Anal orifice large and very 

 little posterior to the middle of the insect, as in Crypticenja. 



Younger 5 . 8 millim. long, and not over 3 high (excluding spine) ; 

 the protuberances of the adult all well-developed, the spine about as 

 large; there is also a protuberance just in front of the spine; the 

 anterior keels converge to a nodule in the middle line, forming a 

 reversed V ; and there are blunt lateral keels including the subdorsal 

 protuberances, erenulate posterior to them. Margin with about four- 

 teen tooth-like dull white protuberances on each side, these being really 

 lamellae of dense wax ; from about the bases of these lamellae come 

 some very fine silvery threads. 



Still younger forms have the dorsal spine arising as a transverse 

 fold. The cast skins of the young forms are snoAv-white, much as in 

 Icerya, with a fringe of waxy lamellae. The legs and antennae of the 

 young are large and ferruginous. 



The legs and antennas seem to come to their full development in 

 individuals little over 5 millim. long. 



Antenna lO-jointed, the joints after the third greatly bulging on 

 one side, the sutures therefore very deep ; last joint long and falciform. 

 Measurement in p. :— (1) ?, (2) 90, (3) 90, (4) 60, (5) 60, (6) 70, (7) 70, 

 (8) 75, (9) 75, (10) 216 to 294. Joints 2 and 3 are broader than long. 

 Young examples have antennae 8-jointed ; club ordinary. 



Legs well-developed, little hairy ; tarsus half length of tibia ; inner 

 side of tibia with extremely short spines. Mouth-parts well-developed. 

 Skin strongly chitinised, very densely beset with short hairs ; the blunt 

 hairs of some Monophlebids are represented by stout hairs with lanceo- 

 late heads ; small round glands interspersed, not nearly so numerous 

 as the hairs ; there are also larger round or suboval brown spots, 

 arranged more or less in rows. Below the mouth there are two large 

 apertures in the chitinous surface, more or less connected in the middle 

 line, and at the next suture beyond there is a large transverse aperture. 

 Spiracles well-developed. 



Hah. On branches of Mimosa, Verulam, Natal (Fuller, 

 No. 9). Some of the adults show parasite-holes. This is per- 



