Ot 
ee) 
1914} Anatomy of Epidiaspis Piricola. 
Upon the arrival of the egg-depositing season the female 
assumes a different posture than is its earlier position, shorten- 
ing itself to a considerable extent and appearing much more 
rounded (Plate XIV, Fig. 21). On the insect’s taking this 
shape the vulva opens directly back instead of on the ventral 
aspect. With this change comes also a shifting of the normal 
position of the spinnerets (Plate XIV, Fig. 19) to the position 
shown in Fig. 20. In Epidiaspis the spinnerets consist of 
five groups, three anterior and two posterior, all about equi- 
distant from the genital aperture. This shifting from the nor- 
mal, together with an enlargement and infolding of the vulva, 
draws the glands to a position immediately surrounding and 
lining the opening. The eggs passing through this opening 
must necessarily pass over the glands, and in this passing 
the moist egg picks up a quantity of the powdery secretion 
that has exuded, more or less covering the newly deposited 
eggs (Plate XIII, Fig. 21). This powdery substance not only 
acts as a protection to the eggs, but also aids in keeping them 
from drying and sticking together and thus blocking up the 
limited space in which the insect has to store her ova. 
THE MOUTH PARTS. 
The mouthparts of the Diaspine are, as with thé other 
subfamilies of the -Coccide, hard to homologize with those 
of other insects. They are too minute to dissect and are 
always flattened out of shape when mounted, thus making 
a detailed description of the size and shape of the various 
parts a difficult thing to do with accuracy. For the most part 
this box-like framework of the Diaspinine mouth structure 
can be homologized with that for other Coccide, as described 
by Putnam, Mark, Moulton and others. 
This framework is a very important structure in that it 
serves aS a means of attachment for the powerful muscles 
that govern the sucking and swallowing apparatus. In the 
main, there are two arches (Plate XIII, Fig. 11) arcus superior 
(a), and arcus inferior, (6), which fuse to make a very rigid 
structure. Just below this box-like structure is a rostrum 
or mentum, conical in shape and attached at the base. This 
conical structure is covered with a chitinous layer and inside 
of this are a few short muscles, which are undoubtedly used 
