390 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. [Proc. 3D Ser. 



and are thus very noticeable on the tree, especially when 

 they are massed together, as is usually the case. Dr. 

 Howard, who became interested in the wax produced by 

 this insect, had it analyzed and expressed the opinion, as 

 Professor Comstock had done before, that the product 

 might be of practical value, the supply being very great. ^ 



First Stage. — In the laboratory, the young insects (fig. 10) 

 began to hatch in February and continued to do so until the 

 middle of May, emerging through the opening in the pos- 

 terior end of the waxen case of the mother. As food was 

 not at hand, they ran about in a lively way ; but when placed 

 upon the tree, selected a suitable spot and inserted the beak. 

 From this time on they appeared to be inactive, and it was 

 found that they had begun to secrete their coverings. The 

 wax seemed to come from the double pits and stood out 

 from the body of the insect in transparent rods, giving it a 

 spiny appearance. In the first stage, the insect is about .5 

 mm. long, elliptical in outline, and distinctly segmented. 

 The caudal segment (fig. 11) terminates in two prominent 

 lobes with long filaments, as in C. ehrhornt, and bears at 

 least four pairs of comparatively short spines. Eight spines 

 surround the anal opening. The legs of this species (fig. 



12) are long compared with those of C. ehrhornt, and the 

 tarsi each bear four knobbed digitules. The antennae (fig. 



13) are six-jointed, counting the basal segment, the third 

 being about as long as the first and second combined, the 

 rest approximately equal in length. The dorsal surface of 

 the body has large double pits arranged in six longitudinal 

 rows about equidistant from each other; no single pits 

 occur. 



Intermediate Stage. — As the second stage of the insect is 

 not to be found in the material at hand, it is necessary to 

 pass to a later stage. Here the insect (fig. 14) is subovate, 

 about 1.4 mm. long, and the abdomen is distinctly seg- 

 mented. The long filaments at the end of the body have 

 disappeared and short spines take their place. In the 



1 U. S. Dept. Agric, Div. EInt., Bull. 9, New Series, p. 39. 



