12 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



pygidium, but are readily distinguishable from the present species 

 by other prominent characters. F. expansa and casuarince 

 have no circumgenital glands ; signata has the female puparium 

 widely pyriform and a large number of orifices in the circum- 

 genital glands ; tenuis has " numerous rather strong and thick 

 spines " on the margin of the pygidium ; and bambusce has a 

 " very long and excessively slender puparium." 



A very plentiful species, literally covering the trunk and 

 branches of Acacia decurrens, the male scales being usually 

 placed on the leaves, and look very much like a Mytilaspis. 

 Specimens have also been observed affecting A. melanoxylon and 

 A. armata. 



Sub-family Lecanin/e. 



ERIOCHITON (?) MELALEUCA, n. sp. 



Test of adult female similar in structure to that of E. cajani, 

 Mask., but narrower and more oblong ; compact, glassy or waxy, 

 brittle, roughened with numerous irregular waxy granules, which 

 give it the appearance of being closely set with grains of white 

 quartz sand. The test completely encloses the insect, leaving an 

 oval aperture above the anus. Length, 4.25 mm. ; breadth, 



2 mm. ; height, rather less than 2 mm. 



Test of male not observed. 



Adult female oblong oval ; moderately convex, with a complete 

 marginal series of pointed conical spines (smaller and not so 

 sharply pointed as those of cajani). At each stigmatic cleft is a 

 long curved spine. Antenna with eight joints, of which the third 

 is the longest and the eighth the shortest; several stout curved 

 hairs on the terminal joint, and one or two finer hairs on the 

 other joints, that on the second joint being particularly long. 

 Legs well developed, rather stout. Foot with the usual four 

 digitules ; the unguals broadly spatulate ; the tarsals fine knobbed 

 hairs. During the period of oviposition the hinder (abdominal) 

 parts of the insect are turned sharply upwards at right angles to 

 the rest of the body and become fixed in that position. The 

 derm on this abdominal area is not so strongly chitinous as on 

 the anterior parts. There is on each side of the abdomen a 

 series of scars somewhat resembling spiracles, but apparently not 

 functional, each scar surrounded by concentric chitinous lines. 

 Derm with a few scattered small circular pores on the dorsal 

 surface. Anal ring with six stout hairs. Anal lobes irregularly 

 triangular, the apex bluntly rounded and incurved. Long, 



3 mm. ; broad, 1.50 mm. 



Habitat.- — On Melaleuca nodosa (introduced), Myrniong, Vic- 

 toria, Australia. 



This species is very closely allied to E. cajani, recorded by 

 Maskell from India, where it occurs on several papilionaceous 

 plants. The present species differs from cajani chiefly in the 



