CHAPTER XVI 



SUBFAMILY ASTEBOLECANIINAE 



The Ceravitreous Coccids 



The body of the adult female is round, oval, or elongate oval in out- 

 line. The dorsal aspect is convex or strongly convex and the ventral 

 aspect is flat. The lateral margins are sometimes convex, frequently 

 with a marginal rim and the two ends are convexly rounded or the 

 caudal end is truncate or produced. The segmentation is very indis- 

 tinct or not indicated. The caudal end of the body is not inflated and 

 the cephalic and lateral margins are not provided with a keel. The 

 antennae are normal in form, consist of four to six segments or each 

 is reduced to a single rudimentary tubercle, and are articulated to the 

 ventral aspect of the head. The eyes are wanting. The mouth-parts, 

 rostrum and rostralis, are present, the rostrum consists of a single seg- 

 ment. The legs are rudimentary, mere tubercles or wanting. The 

 spiracles of the mesothorax and metathorax are normal in size and 

 ventral in position. The mesothoracic spiracles are never located near 

 the anus. The abdominal spiracles are always wanting. The stigmatic 

 clefts may be present or wanting, when present, they are usually pro- 

 vided with one or two spinae with canellae and spiracerores. The abdo- 

 men is about as long as the head and thorax together or longer. It is 

 usually more or less convex on the dorsal aspect and flat on the ventral. 

 The lateral margins are either sharply defined or obscure or wanting. 

 The caudal end is rounded or truncate or more or less produced or 

 emarginate, but never with a mesal cleft and opercula. All the seg- 

 ments are fully exposed and similar in appearance with or without coriae 

 between them, none are retracted to form a marsupium. The abdomen 

 is never provided with an anal cleft and opercula. The anal ring is 

 usually present and located at the cephalic end of a short retracted 

 anal tube and provided with six, eight, twelve, four, two, or without 

 anal ring setae. The anal lobes and the anal setae are usually present, 

 very different in size and form in the different genera. The caudal 

 abdominal segment can not be identified. The body is provided with 

 cerores, is never provided with pilacerores, and usually with octacerores, 

 and sometimes with ceratube. The body is never enclosed in a resinous 

 cell with three adjacent openings or covered by a scale with or without 

 exuviae but is usually covered by a test of wax, very diverse in form, 

 varying from a thin glassy sheet of wax with a glassy fringe to a rather 

 dense thick mass of wax or with the body naked. Insects sometimes 

 form depressions or galls on plants. The rectum is never provided with 

 a long glassy tube of wax or with a chitinized rectal tube bearing rings 

 of anacerores. The body even if naked is not gall-like in form. 



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