52 



PSYCHE. 



[April iS97- 



NOTES ON NEW COCCIDAE. 



BY T. D. A. COCKERELL, N. MEX. AGR. EXP. STATION. 



I. A NEW COCCID PEST OF GREEN- 

 HOUSES. 



Yesterday (Feb. 12), in the gieenhouse of 

 the N. M. Experiment Station, Prof. Geo. 

 Vestal directed my attention to some small 

 ornamental plants, which were swarming 

 with a scale-insect. The plants had been 

 received from the Colorado Experiment 

 Station, and were not noticed to be infested 

 on arrival; but they must have had some of 

 the Coccids upon them at the time. The 

 name of tlie plant is given to me by Prof. 

 Vestal as Pilea arborea ox -piloaa (it is not at 

 all pilose), but I do not find these names in 

 the Index Kewensis. 



I recognised at once tliat the Coccid was 

 new to this country, but I quite expected it 

 would prove to be Newstead's Lecanium 

 muiimiim, described from hothouse plants in 

 England. However, to my surprise, it is 

 quite distinct, and new, so I describe it here- 

 with. 



Lecanium fiaz'eolnm, n. sp. $ Scale 

 (gravid) just 2 mm. long, less than i mm. 

 broad, fairly convex, tolerably sliiny, liglit 

 yellow, with the black eyes conspicuous. It 

 is like a ver3- small pale L. kespetidiim, but 

 narrower. A little spot of white secretion at 

 eacli stigmatal incision. Parasitised scales 

 turn black. Half-grown examples are del- 

 icately reticulated witli pale brown Hues. 



Tlie insect is viviparous, and the newly- 

 hatched young are very pale pink. 



5 Adult, boiled in caustic soda, turns 

 pinkish, but the skin is colorless. Dermis 

 not at all reticulate or tessellate. Antennae 

 very pale, slender, 7-segmented, the segments 

 very distinct, 3 longest, but 4 nearly as long ; 

 then 2 and 7 equal in length, obviously 

 shorter tlian 4; then i, tlien 5, tlien 6, a lit- 



tle shorter than 5. 5-I-6 not '1^ long as 4, 

 Formula 34 (27) 156. 2 and 4 each with a 

 conspicuous pair of bristles near the end, i 

 also with a pair, but further apart; 5 and 6 

 each with a conspicuous bristle; 7 with 

 many bristles, one at its tip about as long as 

 itself. Legs small and pale; tarsus about or 

 nearly 3 length of tibia; tarsal digitules long, 

 slender but of more than filiform thickness, 

 with small but very distinct oblique knobs; 

 digitules of claw extending considerably be- 

 yond tip of claw, fairly but not very stout, 

 with large knobs. Trochanter with a ver3' 

 long hair, tibia with a conspicuous bristle 

 on inner side near end. Anal ring with only 

 four hairs, these very long and quite stout. 

 Anal plates rather long and narrow, their 

 outer sides about equal, three bristles at 

 hind tip. Stigmatal spines brown, in threes, 

 one \eLX-j long and stout, the other two 

 minute and narrow-conical. Margin with 

 rather numerous long slender .spines, which 

 are blunt at tips. 



Hab. On stems of Pilea in greenhouse of 

 N. M. Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 Mesilla Park, N. M. 



L. /faveoliim differs from maculatum. 

 Sign., in being narrower, and entirely lack- 

 ing the dorsal row of spots which gave the 

 latter its specific name. It dift'ers from mini- 

 mniii, Newst., by the dermis being not tessel- 

 ate, the second segment of antenna being 

 much longer, the 7th not so long, and con- 

 spicuously shorter than 3, the tarsi conspicu- 

 ously shorter than tibiae, the digitules longer 

 than in Newstead's figure. It difiers from 

 rubellum, Ckll., by its dermis not being 

 crowded with gland-spots, its claw-digitules 

 not or hardly bulbous at base, and the longer 

 4th segment of antenna. It differs from 

 iiaiiiim, Ckll., by the longer tarsal digitules, 



