PARLATORIA PROTEUS, VAR. CROTON1S. 147 



will be seen on comparing the following formula of ten 

 examples : 



4-6 6-6 6-6 6-6 5-6 6-6 6-6 6-6 6-6 5-6 

 5_4 5_5 4_5 5_4 5_o 5-5 5-5 5-5 5-5 5-5 



Rudimentary antennae (fig. 8) with a single curved 

 spine. 



Puparium of the male (figs. 6, 6 A) of the same 

 shape as typical P. proteus. Colour purple brown be- 

 hind the exuviae, posterior half greyish, often with a 

 faint trace of yellow. Exuviae occupy about one third 

 of the puparium, have the central area intense dark 

 bluish green, and the margin yellow or orange yellow. 



Male. I have only been able to obtain imperfect 

 examples of this sex. The lower half of the tibiae 

 and the whole of the tarsi (figs. 9, 10) are clad with 

 fine hairs ; and the single pair of digitules are scarcely 

 as long as the slender claws. 



Habitat. In the palm house of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, this well-marked variety is common on all the 

 cultivated crotons. Its favourite position is along the 

 underside at the extreme margin of the leaf, which, 

 from its deflexed character, partly conceals the pupa- 

 ria. But as the insects become more numerous they 

 spread themselves over the surface of the leaves, when 

 they can be readily seen and to the naked eye appear 

 as small elongated bodies of yellow wax. Subsequently 

 when the insects are dead the puparia have very much 

 the appearance of " bran " scattered over the leaves of 

 the food-plant, a similarity which has gained for it, 

 among horticulturists, the name of " bran scale." 



I have also received the species from various parts 

 of Cheshire ; and it is probably to be met with on 

 crotons in many other places. 



Distribution. Is probably common wherever the 

 croton is cultivated. Mr. Cockerell records it from 

 Antigua and Jamaica. 



