COMMON GUM SCALE. 89 



CHAPTER CXXII. 



COMMON GUM SCALE. 



(Eriococcus coriaceus, Maskell.) 



Order : Homoptera. Family : Coccidoe. 



The genus Eriococcus, to which E. coriaceus belongs, is- 

 but too well known to those accustomed to the forests of 

 our State, and it has a wide range. Eriococcus was first 

 described by the late Mr. Maskell in the Transactions of 

 the New Zealand Institute, 1892, from specimens supplied 

 to him by the late Mr. Olliff, Entomologist, of Sydney. 

 The adult female, as Maskell describes it, is enclosed in an 

 elongated sac of whitish or yellowish cotton ; the body is 

 elongated, segmented ; anal tubercles conspicuous ; feet 

 and antennae present ; several rows of conical spines on 

 dorsal surface ; antennae of six joints. 



I have never seen the male, but in other species the 

 adult male is a tiny fly-like insect, with hyaline wings, 

 and, according to Comstock, with a pair of long, waxy 

 filaments projecting from the posterior portion of the 

 abdomen. These filaments are very conspicuous, and are 

 whiter and longer than the body of the insect. 



In the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 1900, 

 Mr. Froggatt gives an excellent account of this scale, as 

 observed by him in New South Wales and elsewhere. It 

 is generally found on young gum saplings that spring up 

 when the larger trees have been cut down. It does not 



