40 L Febniary-j 



On December 22nd I wrote to Dr. Sinclair : " This very closely resembles A. 

 rapax, which occurs in Florida; but it differs from it in some slight microscopical 

 characters, and, so far as I know, A. rapax has never been found on the cocoa-nut. 

 Therefore, I call it var. palmce ; should it prove a distinct species, it may be known 

 as Aspidiotus palmce." I also gave a slight description of it, as A. rapax, var. 

 palmce, in my cyclostyled " Notes from the Museum," No. 5, which was published 

 in some of the Kingston newspapers. 



Mr. Morgan has examined this form, and compared it with A. rapax (a species 

 I did not then possess), the result being that he proves it sufficiently distinct, and 

 regards it as undescribed. His account of the specific details is very much better 

 than my own incomplete notes on the subject, so I need only give a few characters 

 not mentioned by him. 



Scale pale brown, with the exuviae black, and on one side of the centre ; outline 

 seen from above slightly oblong. Female oblong, narrower posteriorly, lateral mar- 

 gins of the middle segments produced into tubercles, the bases of which are slightly 

 wider than the length of either side. The ends of these tubercles emit a few hairs. 

 Colour of female very pale lemon. The median lobes of the terminal segment are 

 tinged with brown. The female resembles in shape that of ^._^cms, but it has about 

 five lateral tubercles, whereas in the latter I have observed only three. A. articu- 

 latus lacks the tubercles altogether, and is very different in appearance. 



Mr. Morgan writes as to these tubercles : " I think all the Diaspina (females) 

 have the protruding lateral terminations to their segments, at least if they have been 

 fertilized, but they vary according to the condition of the insect." 



I have also found them to vary very much under different circumstances, but I 

 believe the number, and to some extent the form, is often a help to the identification 

 of species, and should be mentioned in descriptions. In A. articulatus I have been 

 unable to find anything that could properly be called a lateral tubercle, although I 

 have examined very many specimens. The segments of these ^ Diaspince work after 

 the manner of a concertina, so that often there is a fine display of tubercles on one 

 side, while those on the other are " shut up." 



(4). DiASPis, n. sp. 

 This is described by Mr. Morgan below ; I did not find any on the leaves I 

 examined, except the male scales above referred to. I have some $ scales found in 

 Kingston, which seem to be this, but the median lobes are not serrate on their inner 

 margins. There were also an apparently new Aspidiotus of small size, and a curious 

 creature which I regard as a new species of Asterolecanium, or an allied genus, on 

 the leaves, but they have not yet been sufficiently examined to be described. 



T. D. A. COCKEEELL. 



Institute of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica. 



Aspidiotus palm^, n. sp. 



^ scale identical in all respects to that of A. rapax, Oomst. The insect has 

 four groups of ventral glands, each group consisting of two to seven. The median 

 lobes are wide apart, and suddenly compressed towards the apex. The 2nd lobe 

 is smaller, and the 3rd lobe is still more rudimentary, with acute apex. There are 

 two wide branched plates between the median lobes, two similar ones between the 



