Coccus.- 



-TNSECTS.- 



-Leoanium coffee. 



271 



antennseless, and in which even all appearance of annu- 

 lose structure is lost, the creature, in fact, becoming an 

 inert mass of animal matter; a slender seta arising from 

 the breast, and thrust into the stem or leaf on which 

 the animal is fixed, being the only external appendage 

 to the body." The most famed member of the family 

 is, however, the Cochineal {Coccus cacti, the male is 

 shown in Plate 8, tig. 13), which received its specific 

 name from the Mexican Cactus cochinilifcr, or Opuntia 

 cochinilifcra of moderns, being its food plant. 



The Cochineal, when first imported, was believed 

 to be the seed of a plant. The insects are brushed off 

 the plant with a squirrel's tail and killed by immer- 

 sion in hot water, and afterwards dried in the sun or by 

 the heat of a stove, as alluded to above. There are 

 three harvests a year ; the first is the best, as the 

 impregnated females alone are taken ; the young 

 females are also collected in the second harvest ; and 

 the third harvest is inferior to the other two, as old and 

 young females, and skins, are collected indiscriminately. 

 Before the rainy season commences the Mexicans cut 

 off branches of the Nopal, loaded with infant insects, 

 which they preserve in their houses; otherwise the 

 insects would perish in the inclement weather. The 

 island of Teneriffe annually produces several thousand 

 bags of cochineal. The editor of the last edition of 

 Pereira* informs us that in January, 1857, there 

 were four thousand eight hundred and ninety-one bags 

 of Honduras cochineal in our warehouses, five hundred 

 and sixty-seven Mexican, and one thousand four 

 hundred and one of Teneriffe. To give some idea of 

 the importance of cochineal as an article of commerce, 

 the reader may be pleased to know that in the year 

 1852 the imports and exports of it were respectively 

 twenty-two thousand and forty-two, and eight thousand 

 nine himdred and sixty-four hundredweight. Tliere 

 were also imported in that year fifteen hundredweight 

 of granilla, a finer kind, and two hundred and seventy- 

 one hundredweight of the dust. 



Gi'eat quantities of cochineal are annually imported 

 into France from Algeria. There are great nurseries 

 there of the peculiar cactus on which the insects feed ; 

 and in one year, 1839, M. Guerin-Meneville tells us 

 that three hundred and four thousand nine hundred and 

 ninety -one kilogrammes were imported into France. 

 The Algerine production is not, however, so valuable 

 as the Mexican, though the colouring matter is nearly 

 as pure and strong. The Spaniards have introduced 

 the cochineal into the Canaries, and the Dutch into 

 Java, vvith excellent results to their exchequers. 



In Teneriffe it is on the Opiintia tuna that the 

 Coccus feeds. The plant is abundant in Madeira, 

 where, according to Mr. Johnson, it gives a peculiar 

 feature to the rocky parts of the landscape. This 

 writer informs us that the merchants of Funchal are 

 beginning to turn their attention to the cultivation of 

 the cochineal insect, in the hope of its ultimately 

 becoming a remunerative substitute for the vine. 



The Pe-la, or insect which produces the insect-wax 

 of China, is a species of Coccus {Coccus Sinensis), which 

 was believed to feed on a kind of privet, somewhat 



♦ The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, by 

 Jonathan Pereira, M.D., vol. ii., part 2, p. 760 : fourth ed., 1857. 



brighter in leaf and foliage than the stiff shrub known so 

 well in every garden and hedgerow by that name. Mr. 

 Fortune, however — a good authority — says that it feeds 

 on a species of ash. It is chiefly found in the province 

 of Sze-tchuen, where the crude material is deposited 

 by the insects around the branches of the tree on which 

 they feed, and resembles a white, soft, fibrous, velvety 

 coating of from one to two-tenths of an inch in thickness. 



The late George Newport says — " So complete have 

 been the ravages of the Coccus of the orange trees, that 

 one of the Azores, the Island of Fayal, lost its entire pro- 

 duce from this cause alone. The usual exportation of fruit 

 from Fayal has been twelve thousand chests annually, 

 but in 1843 not a single chest was exported. This injury 

 has already extended to St. Michael's, and is still con- 

 tinuing; and the inhabitants of the whole of that group 

 of volcanic islands, depending almost entirely on the 

 produce of their orange groves, and despairing of re- 

 trieving their prospects, are fast turning their attention 

 to the cultivation of other objects of commerce. This 

 amount of injury to a whole population by a diminutive 

 and apparently contemptible insect, has been the result 

 of but three years. The effects of this insect on a single 

 article of luxury may fairly be adduced to show that 

 entomological inquiries are deserving of full attention. 

 The orange trade between this country and the Azores 

 gives employment to upwards of two hundred sail of 

 vessels ; and, as I am credibly informed, the orange 

 trade alone returns to the revenue of this country an 

 import-duty of more than £50,000 per year. 



Coccus Sinensis. — Mr. Westwood has applied this 

 name to the insect which produces the white insect-wax 

 of China, an important article very much used by the 

 Chinese in the manufacture of candles ; as much as 

 400,000 lbs. are believed to be annually used. 



The Bark-louse of the apple tree {Aspidiotus con- 

 chifoi-mis') frequently docs much damage to the orchard. 

 It has the foim of a minute scale, resembling a mussel 

 or oyster shell in shape, and hence its specific name 

 Conchiformis. This insect adheres close to the bark, 

 and is found often in prodigious numbers. 



Porphyrophora. — Before the discovery of America, 

 cochineal was obtained in considerable quantities from 

 Poland. This cochineal was the dried bodies of the 

 female of another species of the family Coccidte, which 

 derives its specific name from the country whence it 

 was exported {Porphyrophora polonica). The female 

 is roundish, about the size of a cherry stone, and fur- 

 nished with short legs; she is quite soft, and of a dark 

 amaranth colour throughout. When dried, the insects 

 shrivel \\\> into a small size, and are covered with a 

 bluish mould. The true scarlet colour is produced by 

 infusion, with the addition of acids ; while the purple 

 is produced by a solution of potash. 



Lecaniuni Coffecc. — This creature does not seem 

 to have attracted attention till about 1845, when it 

 began to spread with such rapidity that, in 1847, the 

 planters became alarmed. It is curious that it was 

 about the same period that the potato, vine, and olive 

 began to be affected by di.sease in Europe. This scaly 

 bug seeks out the softest and most sheltered parts of 

 the coffee tree, such as the young shoots, the under- 

 sides of the leaves, and the clusters of berries. 



