98 INSECTS NOXIOUS TO AGRICULTURE. 



Young larva free, active, elongated, slightly convex, tapering 

 to the anal extremity ; colour yellow ; length, about ^in. An- 

 tennae as in adult, with six joints. Feet somewhat large. Anal 

 tubercles thick, conspicuous, setiferous, with one short hair. On 

 the edge of the body a row of conical spines set far apart, and 

 on the dorsum four other longitudinal rows. 



Adult male red in colour, about ^\jin. long. Antennae of 

 nine joints, all bearing hairs ; the last joint nearly globular. 

 Feet slender ; digitules fine hairs. Abdominal spike short, thick, 

 with sometimes a curved appendage. A rather strong seta 011 

 each side of the base of the spike. 



As a rule, the adult female is nearly buried in a circular 

 depression, or pit, formed in the leaf, and with the wall of the 

 pit somewhat curled over it. On the other side of the leaf is a 

 corresponding elevation, of a brown colour. Diameter of pit, 

 about y 1 ^ in. The abdominal pencil of cotton and the anal 

 tubercles of the female usually protrude at the edge of the pit, 

 probably to attract the male. After gestation, the female dis- 

 appears within the pit, and the young larvae are also sheltered in 

 it for a while. 



Sometimes two females inhabit the same pit. 



The females which are not in pits are generally of a 

 dark-red, or brown, colour. 



Habitat On Santalum Cunninghamii (maire), Te Aute, 

 Hawke's Bay. 



A very distinct species, easily distinguishable by the pits on the 

 leaves. 



