166 Journal New York Entomological Society. [vol. vi. 



Icerya purchasi var. maskelli Ckll. 



On trunks of several orange trees at Aranjuez, six miles from Guay- 

 mas, Sonora, Sept. 23, 1894 (Townsend).* This is the form that I took 

 at Guaymas, and which has been published as purchasi. The specimens 

 are noticeable for their small size and short subconic ovisacs. 



The larval characters of purchasi (typical form) and var. maskelli do 

 not differ appreciably except in the antennae of first stage, and this dif- 

 ference is not apparently constant. Mounts were made of larvae of pur- 

 chasi (typ. form) from California and Magdalena, Sonora ; and of var. 

 maskelli from California and Guaymas, Sonora. The two mounts from 

 California and that from Magdalena show the antennas of first larval 

 stage practically the same; i. <?., the last joint is irregular in outline, and 

 the penultimate, as well as last joint, bears one or two of the very long 

 hairs. The Guaymas mount, being from the present specimens, shows 

 the last antennal joint of first larval stage almost uniformly to be rather 

 swollen and regular in outline, well constricted at base, rather soda-bot- 

 tle shaped, and with none of the long hairs on penultimate joint. But 

 some specimens occurred exhibiting a tendency toward the other form, 

 so that the character can hardly be called distinctive. 



The difference between the typical purchasi and var. maskelli were 

 pointed out by Cockerell in Psyche, July, 1897, under the heading 

 " note on two forms of the fluted scale." These forms were recognized 

 by Craw some seven years ago as differing from each other, and have 

 ever since been noticed by him to retain their distinctive features. The 

 finding of the present specimens, which seem to be an exaggerated 

 maskelli form, near Guaymas, Sonora, suggested the possibility that 

 maskelli might represent an endemic American form, not in any way 

 connected with the Australian purchasi. This supposition fell after 

 making an extended examination of the larvae, which could not be satis- 

 factorily separated (at least the Californian specimens could not), so 

 that the two forms could hardly be natives of two widely separated 

 countries. It is still possible, however, that the present specimens from 

 Guaymas may represent an endemic form related to purchasi, and thus 

 a new species, but I do not consider it probable. 



The statement of Cockerell (Psyche, 1. c. ) that maskelli is purchasi 

 in the strict sense, and agrees very nearly with Maskell's description, 



*These specimens were in all Jprobability what I collected near Guaymas, but 

 unfortunately they were sent out from the Department without label. I can state 

 positively that I collected exactly similar specimens, so far as external appearance goes 

 at the locality given.— C. H. T. T. 



