SCALE-INSECTS. 97 



Differs from the European R. gnidii in size, colour, and 

 habitat, that species living on the roots of grass, while the New 

 Zealand insect is arboreal. There are also differences in the 

 foot and in the arrangement of the spines and hairs. 



It is possible that this insect may, in its latest stage, con- 

 struct a sac : in that case, it would belong to Eriococcus. 



59. EHIZOCOCCUS FOSSOR, Maskell. 



N.Z. Trans., Vol. XVL, 1883, p. 136. 

 (Plate XVI., Fig. 2.) 



Female naked in all stages, but the adult usually buried in 

 a pit. 



Male pupa enclosed in a white, elongated, cottony sac, which 

 is about 3\jin. l n g- 



Adult female greenish -yellow in colour, sometimes brown, 

 stationary ; sometimes resting on the leaf, usually partly 

 enclosed in a circular pit ; almost circular in outline, flat beneath 

 and slightly convex above; length, about -j^g-in. In the last 

 stage, after gestation, it becomes dark-brown. The cephalic part 

 is smooth; the remainder segmented. The abdomen ends in 

 two very small anal tubercles, which are nevertheless somewhat 

 conspicuous on account of their brown colour. Between them 

 there protrudes a long thick pencil of white cotton. Antennae 

 short, with six joints, the last joint bearing several long hairs. 

 Feet very small ; the femur rather thick ; the tibia is shorter 

 than the tarsus by about one-third ; the four digitules are long 

 fine hairs. The anal tubercles have not terminal setae; anal 

 ring inconspicuous. A row of a few conical spines, set far apart, 

 runs round the edge of the body, but none elsewhere, nor any 

 circular spinnerets. There is no sign of a sac in any stage. 



Female of the second stage oval, flatter than the adult, and 

 of a rich golden colour; length, about ^jin. The segments of 

 the body are somewhat more distinct than in the adult. The 

 anal tubercles are proportionately larger, and bear terminal 

 setae. Antennae longer than in the adult, with six joints. Feet 

 also longer. All round the edge runs a row of conical spines, 

 set more closely than in the adult ; and from each of these 

 springs a long curly tube of white cotton, making a kind of 

 fringe to the body ; each tube is a little dilated at the end, and 

 then tapers to a narrow point. The ba'se of each conical spine is 

 a somewhat large tubercle. 

 7 



