LIFE-llISTOKY OF A MOX0P1I.LE13US. 145 



onwards till tlie end of Aj)!'!!, T watclied the growth of tlie scales, 

 sending mature specimens of the male and female (taken by 

 myself personally in the forest) to Green at the end of April. 

 The succeeding year I was able to study the insect again from 

 the middle of January till the middle of May, whilst the following 

 season I watched the younger stages from their first appearance 

 in November until near the end of February. The insects were 

 late in appearing in 1900-01, owing to wet cold weather, but 

 were earlier by several weeks in the seasons of 1901-02 and 

 1902-03. During the last four or five years the weather seems to 

 have been on the whole most favourable to the development of 

 the pest, which has appeared in ever increasing numbers, and 

 has spread into forests previously reported as free from it. In 

 1902 the attack was upon a very large scale, the woods over the 

 infested areas literally swarming with the fat white female 

 coccids. It was during this year that the predaceous Vedalia 

 beetle was first noticed at work. During the past winter of 

 1902-3, the young scale again appeared numerously upon the 

 leaves of the trees, and the long spell of intensely cold thougli 

 excessively dry weather appeared to be fa^'ourable to the develop- 

 ment of the young larvae, which were very numerous up to the 

 middle of Eebruary, when my observations ceased owing to a 

 transfer to Calcutta. 



As seen early in the cold weather (November), the insect is a 

 minute little coccid covered with white woolly hair. It is to be 

 found at this period on the leaves of the Sal-tree. The little 

 larva soon loses this hirsute covering, and is then yellow in 

 colour, changing to an orange or yellow-brown. At this stage 

 it is still less than 1'5 mm. in length. A fortnight later the 

 brown colouring becomes more pronounced, the scale being 

 then about 2*08 mm. in length, long-elliptical, convex dorsally, 

 and flat beneath, witli a longish proboscis, a pair of black 

 antennae, and three pairs of black legs. After a f ourtlv period of 

 fifteen days has elapsed, the larvae are about 6'25 mm. in length, 

 dark brown on the dorsal surface, changing to orange or pale 

 canary-yellow in the older specimens ; ventral surface canary- 

 yellow ; proboscis, antennae, and legs black. There is a fringe of 

 hairs round the margin (PL 16. fig. 2). This colouring remains 

 much the same until the animal reaches maturity, but the whole 

 of the upper surface becomes, when the scale is about half- 

 grown, covered with a white mealy powder. 



