101 



On Some Ne^w^ South Australian Coccid^e. 



By W. M. Maskell, RR.M.S. 



[Read July 3rd, 1888.] 

 Plates XII. to XIV. 



The following paper contains detailed descriptions of some 

 insects which Mr. F. S. Craw^ford, of Adelaide, has kindly sent 

 to me. They are all, in various ways, interesting, and some of 

 them are quite peculiar. It would be desirable that some 

 systematic investigations should be made amongst the Australian 

 Homoptera. This field has hitherto been very little worked, and, 

 irom these and other specimens which have come under my 

 notice, I believe that a student of this very curious Order will 

 find in Australia ample opportunities for most interesting work. 

 All these insects have some peculiar features of their own well 

 worth examination. If nobody in their native country cares to 

 undertake the task, I shall be A'ery happy to do what I can if 

 specimens are sent to me. 



On this I may mention, as a guide both to those who would 



like themselves to study Coccids and to those who might be good 



enough to send insects for identification, that two things are 



necessary. First, care must be taken to procure specimens, if 



possible, in all stages of existence ; secondly, attention should iDe 



directed by a student to the determination of minute points of 



anatomy. The first is required because a Coccid, in very many 



cases, is quite difierent in difierent states of life ; the female is 



quite unlike the male, the larva is often no guide whatever to 



the form of the adult. The second is requisite because, without 



minute examination, errors may very easily arise ; for example, 



Monojylilehus Craicfordi, herein described, in outward appearance 



very closely resembles, as to the female, Crdostoma Zealandicum, 



and, as to the male, leery a Purchasi. The minute rostrum of 



the female and the tassels of the male are distinouishino- char- 

 es o 



acters, to be made out only with a strong lens or the microscope. 

 These remarks may perhaps seem to some superfluous, yet they 

 contain points of the greatest importance for the study of 

 Homoptera, especially Coccids. 



