74 PULVINAEIA FLOCC1FERA. 



there seems to be a succession of broods. When 

 single-brooded the females hibernate through the 

 winter in an immature stage. From the middle of 

 April to May the ovisacs are secreted, the perfect 

 males appearing before this is accomplished. After 

 the completion of the ovisac the female falls away and 

 perishes a habit, I believe, peculiar to this species. 



Distribution. Probably indigenous to Southern 

 Europe, where it occurs in the open air ; in other 

 parts of Europe it is found on cultivated plants under 

 glass. Cockerell records it from Ottawa, Canada (also 

 under glass), and from the United States of America, 

 on plants imported from Belgium and Japan ; Green 

 gives Calcutta ; and Maskell, New Zealand, says : "in 

 the south, chiefly in greenhouses ; in the Hutt Valley, 

 Wellington, camellias in the open air are much subject 

 to it." 



Signoret (1. c.) describes his P. camellicola as 

 possessing sometimes six, sometimes seven joints, 

 .attributing the latter characteristic to the male larvae 

 (? second stage). Having found that adult females of 

 P.floccifera possess antennae with seven or eight joints, I 

 have come to the conclusion that Signoret had abnormal 

 specimens before him when making his diagnosis, and 

 have therefore placed his species as a synonym. 



I have already stated that P. mils possesses antennae 

 with six, seven, or eight joints ; it is not surprising, 

 therefore, if P. floccifera should present the same 

 amount of variation in the number of antenna! joints. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 



PL XL VIII, figs. 1, 1 a. Insects natural size in situ 



on camellia leaf and branch. 

 Fig. 2. Adult female and ovisac, the latter with 



longitudinal and transverse cracks or fissures 



revealing the pink colour of the eggs within. X 4. 

 Fig. 3. Adult female after treatment with potash 



(ventral). X 20. 



