Maskell. — On New Zealand Coccida?. 183 



Test of the male elongated, narrow, flat beneath, slightly convex above, 

 white, glassy, thin and brittle, with a conspicuous fringe of which the 

 segments are truncato-triangular (fig. 32). The test is divided into tessel- 

 lations, the median row of which is quadrangular, with two series of pen- 

 tagonal divisions between it and the fringe. Near the abdominal extremity 

 a transverse narrow slit cuts the test in two, leaving a small segment at the* 

 extreme end apparently separate. Length of the test about ^ inch. The 

 adult male is yellowish-red in colour, about -^ inch in length, exclusive of 

 the wings. General form normal. Antennas long, with ten joints, all 

 long and equal, except the two first which as usual are very short : all the 

 joints have several hairs. Legs normal, but the tibiae are very long and 

 slender and only a little thickened at the tip ; tarsi somewhat thick ; digi- 

 tules fine hairs. Abdominal spike longer, I think, than usual, and very 

 slightly curved. Four pairs of eyes. 



On Plagianthus, Cyathea, and a few other plants sent to me from 

 Hawke's Bay by the Eev. Mr. Colenso. 



This insect resembles, to the naked eye, somewhat nearly Ctenochiton 

 perforatum, mihi, but the female differs in the absence of the curious perfor- 

 ations in the test of that species and in the shorter and thicker antenna 

 with also more long hairs on the last joint. The test of the male is also 

 different. 



Subsection II. — Lecaniele. 



G-enus Leeanram, Illiger. 



1. Lecanium sp., parasitized. 



It is by no means uncommon, especially in the North Island, to find on 

 many trees in the forests a number of circular brown spots on the leaves, 

 varying from ^ to ^ inch in diameter, slightly convex and with a velvety 

 appearance. On examination these spots are found to be chiefly fungoid : 

 they cannot always be easily detached from the leaf, and often several of 

 them are connected together by a thin sheet of fungoid growth so that a 

 large patch comes off at once. On turning them over, very often nothing 

 more is to be seen than from the upper side : but many specimens may be 

 found showing in the centre of the under-surface a small oval object 

 embedded in the brown mass. Closer examination shows this to be, in 

 most cases, a Lecanid insect ; but identification is very difficult, and it is 

 almost impossible to make out the organs, even after prolonged maceration 

 and boiling. It is impossible to render the insect transparent enough for 

 complete study. 



This is the effect of parasitism, and the insect in question is a Lecanium 

 which has become covered with fungoid growth. I do not know exactly to 

 what species to refer it. In general form it resembles L. hesperidum, but it 



