62 H. TV. Peal — Monograph of the Oriental Aleurodidse. [No. 3, 



o-enerations uninterrupted by winter, which in colder latitudes not only 

 puts an end to their depredations for a season, but also seriously thins 

 their numbers, thus acting as a very efficient check on an abnormal 

 increase. Fortunately however for us the members of this family have 

 not proved so prominently destructive as some of the Scale Insects, 

 and probably this is the reason why hitherto they have been but little 

 studied. Although not of pressing importance it must be admitted that 

 their potential power for expansion and destruction is possibly even 

 greater than that of the Coccidae. Although not possessing limbs in the 

 early and more destructive stages L as in some Coccids (like the Mono- 

 phlebinae) still their power of dissemination is greater as, owing to the 

 females being winged and capable of prolonged flight, they can be more 

 easily spread. Thus in a plantation their spread would take place quicker 

 than Scale Insects. As a matter of fact it is rare, when several plants of 

 the same species are grouped together, to find only one or two showing 

 traces of this pest ; as a rule the entire clump is affected. 



So far only six species belonging to the family Aleurodidse have 

 been described from India. This it must be admitted is a poor record. 

 When we turn to the Coccidae we see however that even this important 

 family had been till only recently entirely neglected. Now, thanks to 

 the admirable work of Mr. E. E. Green, the number of our recorded 

 Indian Species of the Coccidae has risen from seven in 1S86 to fifty- 

 two in 1901, and this even is only a tithe of those which will be 

 discovered in time and worked up. The case of the Aleurodidae is 

 similar or even worse ; as latterly, after the death of Mr. Maskell of New 

 Zealand, no one has done any work on the Indian forms. India in 

 reality is exceedingly rich in members belonging to this family. In the 

 short space of time that I have been working up the Aleurodidae I 

 have examined nearly fifty species. Mr. Green has sent me twenty- 

 eight species from Ceylon, one species from Java and two species from 

 Victoria for determination. 



CHAPTER II. 



Collection and Preparation. 

 As the habits of members of this family are so similar to those in 

 the Scale Insects the method of collection and preparation is identical or 

 almost so in the case of both. The only disappointment one may meet in 

 collecting is the far larger number of scale insects one is inveigled into 

 examining. It is impossible to give any definite instructions as to the 

 method of searching for these insects, but the few following notes as to 



1 Except the very first stage and then their power of movement is not very great, 

 the larvae usually moving but a short distance from the egg. 



