Shorter Articles 



A HISTORICAL KERMES {COCCWJE) 

 The Ninth from California 



GEO. B. KING 



Lawrence, Mass. 



Kermes sassceri n. sp. 



Female scale— Before forming the hard shell the female is 

 white, marbled with gray, turning nearly white when the hard 

 shell is formed. After the scale has been collected and placed 

 in a vial or box the color turns to a very light tint of lemon 

 yellow. The form is not perfectly globular, but rather some- 

 what transverse and with a more or less pronounced and 

 rather broad medio-dorsal depression which gives it a bilobed 

 appearance. In many specimens this depression forms a 

 rather broad, black or dark brown 

 band following frequently its entire 

 length and generally crossed by nar- 

 row blackish or brownish transverse 



lines of various lengths. Between Kermes sasscen n. sp. (Photo 



these lines are several black specks ^ " " ^^^^'' 



as large as a pin head. The entire surface of the scale is covered 

 with minute black specks. The place of attachment to the host 

 plant is dark brown. 



Female larvce — The young female larv^ are grayish-brown, 

 elongate-oval, 480 microns long, 260 microns broad. Antennae — 

 Six jointed; joint I, 20 microns; II, 16 microns; III, 24 microns; 

 IV, 12 microns ; V, 16 microns ; VI, 24 microns ; formula, III, VI, 

 I, (II, V), IV. Front legs — Length and breadth, coxa, 20x36 

 microns ; femur and trochanter, 80 x 24 microns ; tibia, 36 x 20 

 microns ; tarsus, 52 x 16 microns ; claw, 16 microns. 



Habitat — Lawrence, Mass., on Quercus rubra. It is allied to 

 such species as Kermes arizonensis and K. nigropunctatus by 

 being covered with minute black specks. 



