LECAXIUM PKKFOKA'ITM. 123 



Habitat (under glass). On Cari/ota C liming ii, 

 Wallichia densiflora, and other palms in the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Kew, where it was first discovered 

 by Dr. D. Morris. When searching for coccids at 

 Kew in 1898, 1 found this remarkable species the most 

 abundant member of the genus ; and when fixed to the 

 greyish undersides of the leaves of the Wallichia palms 

 it was very conspicuous (see fig. 1). While palms are 

 undoubtedly its favourite food-plants, I have also taken 

 it freely at Kew on Eugenia- malaccensis, Diospyros 

 sp., and Coccoloba sp. ; and I have received it from 

 near Edinburgh, on Anthurium sp. ; and from the 

 Botanic Gardens, Liverpool, on an unnamed plant. 



Distribution. Recorded from several localities, under 

 glass, in the United States of America. 



All the authorities who have dealt with this species, 

 since its discovery in August, 1894, have treated it as 

 a variety of L. tessellatum, Signoret. In describing the 

 species (1. c.) I pointed out its relationship to the latter, 

 but claimed as the clearly distinctive characters the 

 eight-jointed antennae and the very marked central 

 division of the dermal tesselation. While I am quite 

 willing to admit that Signoret may easily have made a 

 mistake as to the number of joints in the antennae, I 

 cannot conceive how he could possibly have overlooked 

 the very distinct central division in the dermal tessela- 

 tion, a character sufficient in itself to guarantee the 

 erection of the species. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE. 



PI. LV, fig. 1. Insects natural size in. situ on under- 

 side of leaf of Wallichia densiflora. 



Fig. 2. Young adult female. X 10. 



Fig. 8. Adult female showing tesselation as seen 

 by transmitted light. X 10. 



Fig. 4. Marginal plates with eye in clear fusiform 

 space at a. x 40. 



Fig. 5. One of the posterior submarginal plates 



