250 [Apri1 ' 



The young larvae are very active, and may be seen wandering over the 

 leaves. They commence to form the characteristic scale before finally 

 settling down : they are then so extremely thin and transparent that 

 they can only be detected when the light strikes them at an angle, 

 when they appear as a thin film-like spot upon the leaves. Even the 

 adult insect, when examined with transmitted light under a microscope, 

 displays all its internal organs, and globules can be seen slowly circu- 

 lating through its juices. Some specimens appear to the naked eye 

 discoloured by a central dark spot ; these are infested by a Hymen- 

 opterous parasite, which may be distinctly seen within the body of its 

 host — in some individuals the larvae, in others the pupae or even imago 

 ready to emerge. I have been unable to find the male of this Lecanium ; 

 it is probable that it is at present reproducing its kind by an asexual 

 process (c.f., Ent. Mo. Mag., xxiv, p. 25). 



Eton, Punduloya, Ceylon : 



December 10th, 1888. 



[With the foregoing Mr. Green sent a quantity of the dry scales attached to 

 pieces of mango leaves, and they at once arrested attention by their form, like the 

 outline of a median longitudinal section of a short pear, due to the dilatation all round 

 the body, behind the head, of the marginal ai-ea, in which on each side, at and de- 

 noting the thoracic region, were two transverse incisions extending from the margin 

 for a considerable distance inwards, and going through the substance of the scale. 

 These scales strongly resemble L. acuminatum, except in the lateral slits, which are 

 not mentioned or indicated by Signoret in his description and figure of that species 

 (Ess. Cochin., p. 227, pi. xi, fig. 1). With the scales Mr. Green also sent excellent 

 drawings of the living insects in all stages of growth, but these being coloured are 

 not suitable for reproduction by the process here employed ; moreover, separate 

 enlarged figures of the antennae and legs were wanting ; these, with an outline of 

 the scale (Fig. 1), have been supplied by the kindness of Mr. E. T. Lewis, to whom I 

 am also greatly indebted for his practised aid in mounting and examining a number 

 of specimens. The result is unexpected, for instead of the antennae having seven 

 joints, like L. acuminatum, as described by Signoret, the normal number in this 

 species is eight (Eig. 2), as ascertained from a good many examples. It is true that 

 in a few cases only seven joints could be seen, and then the long 4th joint mentioned 

 by Signoret was apparent, but in the majority of instances instead of this so-called 

 4th joint, there were two distinct articulations. I apprehend that the appearance 

 of the lesser number only is due to immaturity, and consequent shrinking ; yet it 

 may be that owing to the delicacy and transparency of the antennae, the joint in 

 question, like in some species of the other sectional divisions of the genus, occasionally, 

 although present, is invisible. This will easily be understood by any one accustomed 

 to observe delicate structures under a high microscopic power. The legs are also 

 discrepant from those of L. acuminatum, for while in that species the tarsi are 

 scarcely half as long as the tibiae (a character on which Signoret lays special stress), 



