66 Records of the Indian Museum. [Voy. VII, 
This being so, there has hitherto (with the exception of my 
short note in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 
vol. xix, No.3, p. 761) been no satisfactory record of a Margarodes 
from the Indian Region. The insect presently described under 
the name of M. indicus at least supplies the first indubitable 
record from India proper. 
Before proceeding to describe the Indian representative of 
Margarodes, a brief account of the life history and development 
of the remarkable insects of this genus will be necessary. 
According to Giard, who observed the process in living exam- 
ples, the eggs are deposited underground, in a mass of waxy fila- 
ments secreted by the adult female. From these emerge larvae of 
a more or less typical form. They are normally hexapod, but 
Silvestri has described a species (mediterraneus) in which the larvae 
have a single (anterior) pair of legs. The larval antenna appears 
to be normally 6-jointed, but the abnormal larva of mediterraneus 
exhibits only three antennaljoints. Thelarvae, according to Mayet, 
attach themselves to the roots of plants and increase in size. 
Whilst growing (again according to Mayet) they secrete the enve- 
lope of the cyst that subsequently encloses the nymph. 
It is this second (encysted) form that has attracted the 
attention of many observers by the wonderful pearly lustre which 
has gained for the insects the popular name of ‘‘ Ground Pearls ’’— 
as suggested in the generic name Margarodes. ‘These pearl-like 
cysts are found in the soil and were originally supposed to be 
associated with ants (hence the name of the type species— 
formicarum), but this observation requires corroboration. ‘There 
is, however, nothing improbable in such an association, very 
many Coccidae being attended by ants for the sake of their sugary 
excretions. Giard has determined a species of Brachymyrmex as 
attending M. witium,in Chili. The cysts may occur in enormous 
numbers. Riley (Insect Life, vol. iv, p. 359) states that, in certain 
parts of Florida, they compose over half the soil. Long before 
the nature of the organism was recognized, the cysts were used 
for ornamental purposes, being strung into necklaces and manu- 
factured into various fancy articles. ‘The cysts, when fully devel- 
oped (see pl. ii, fig. 8, and pl. iii, figs. 9, 16, 17, and 18), are 
of irregular form, and are composed of overlapping closely applied 
laminate brittle scales which give to the object somewhat the 
appearance of a miniature fir-cone or of the fruits of certain 
palms. They vary in colour from pale yellow to deep bronzy 
brown, these differences being apparently due to age rather than 
to species. The lustre also varies with age, and is brightest in 
individuals that have lost some of the superficial laminae. Any 
determination of species based solely upon the character of the 
cysts must be extremely unreliable. 
The nymphal insect contained in these cysts may well have 
perplexed the earlier entomologists. It consists of a globular sac, 
without any superficial indications of structural characters. It 
shows neither eyes, limbs, nor any of the usual organs. By very 
