Miscellaneous, 79 



and exporters were in most cases responsible for the wide distribu- 

 tion of certain Coccidse. Be this as it may, it is clear that the 

 scale-insects manage to travel, and it is difficult to see how Kew or 

 any large dealer in exotic plants can avoid transmitting pests unless 

 the plants are under the strict supervision of an entomologist. This 

 leads one to think of quarantine regulations, which have not ye^- 

 been dreamed of in Englaud ; and, so far as present methods go, no 

 doubt Kew is altogether superior to the average of private firms, as 

 Mr, Morris states. The consequence of this state of affairs is that 

 one never knows what will turn up in a given locality. Ghiomispis 

 minor. Mask., described from New Zealand, now proves to be 

 common in the West Indies. D ictj/lopias calceolarue, Mask., from 

 New Zealand and Fiji, is discovered in Jamaica. Lecaninm mangi- 

 fercp. Green, from Cej'lon, is detected in Jamaica and Demerara. 

 A Ceroplastes from Antigua, which I believe to be the same species 

 as C. Cassice, Chav., of Brazil, does not appear to differ from 

 C. Dur/esii, Licht. MS., Twns. (of which I have specimens), from 

 Mexico, and these again seem identical with the Indian O. cerlferus, 

 Anders, Mr. Maskell pointed out this latter fact to me, and he has 

 been so good as to forward Indian specimens of G. ceriferus, which 

 seem to bear out his opinion as to the identity, I hav^e all three 

 now before me, but Mr. Maskell had only compared the Antigua 

 form with C. ceriferus. 



Such instances become more numerous as fresh information comes 

 to hand. Thus Asterolccanium (vel Planclioma) pustulans, Ckll., 

 known from Demerara, the West Indies, and Florida, was lately 

 detected by myself at Vera Cruz, j^lexico ; and Mr. Maskell writes 

 me that he knows it from Brazil and the Sandwich Islands. When 

 I promised this paper I thought of preparing something more elabo- 

 rate than these few notes ; but the distractions attendant on a 

 change of residence, and the temporary detention of my books in 

 Mexico City through the blundering of a transfer compan)% have 

 made it impossible to adequately gather together the statistics. Nor 

 have I tried to discuss the distribution of Coccidae within the United 

 States, as I have nothing fresh of importance to contribute, and 

 among those present are some doubtless much more competent to 

 speak on this subject than myself. Yet the principles are the same 

 throughout, and the evident indications are that we should endeavour 

 to increase the knowledge of Coccid distribution by all possible 

 means, and so far as possible to prevent their importation into fresh 

 countries. If my view is correct, now is the time to insist on the 

 necessary precautions, as in fifty or a hundred years it will be 

 altogether too late. 



In conclusion I will give a list of the Coccids I found this year in 

 the Marine Gardens, Kingston, Jamaica. This locality is in the 

 midst of the town, and it will afford an illustration of the Coccid 

 fauna of the island as now found on cultivated plants. It may be 

 seen at a glance that nearly all the species have been found in 

 distant localities, and it may well be doubted if the scale-insects as 

 a whole belong any more to the original fauna of Jamaica than the 

 plants on which they are found do to the flora. 



