CHAPTER II. 



CHARACTERS, LIFE - HISTORY, AND METAMOR- 

 PHOSES OF THE COCCIDID^E. 



THE first principal character separating the Coccididse from the 

 rest of the Homoptera, and distinguishable without microscopic 

 examination, is the absence of wings in the females at all stages 

 of their existence. 



The second principal character is the absence of any 

 apparatus for feeding and digesting in the males. 



From these two characters it follows that the females can 

 only extend their operations by, at the best, crawling from 

 plant to plant, or by being carried about by birds or other 

 agency; also that the males cannot enjoy more than a very short 

 existence, their work being entirely confined to impregnating 

 the females. Hence, in any endeavours to destroy these insects, 

 the males may be disregarded, and the females only attended to. 



Other distinguishing characters, chiefly microscopic, are 



1. The presence of only one joint in the tarsus or fourth 

 joint of the leg, in both males and females (Plate i., Figs. 6 

 and 7, to) ; 



2. The presence of only a single claw terminating the leg in 

 both males and females (Plate i., Figs. 6 and 7) ; 



3. The presence of only two wings, with two halteres, in 

 the full-grown males (Plate xxi) ; 



4. The presence of two or more eyes or ocular tubercles, in 

 addition to the ordinary pair of eyes, in the full-grown males 

 (Plate i., Fig. 14 ; Plate viii., Fig. 1, k, m). 



I. THE FEMALE INSECT. 



In general outward appearance the female insects present 

 very variable forms. They may be either naked, or covered 

 over with some kind of a shield, which may be fibrous, or waxy, 

 or cottony, or they may have simply a thin powdery meal 

 scattered over them. The covered insects are, of course, 



