﻿11, 
  — 
  Z 
  OOLOGY 
  

  

  Art, 
  XVT. 
  — 
  On 
  some 
  Coccidse 
  in 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  By 
  W. 
  M. 
  Maskell. 
  

  

  [Read 
  before 
  the 
  Philosophical 
  Institute 
  of 
  Canterbury, 
  6th 
  June, 
  1878.] 
  

  

  Plates 
  v., 
  VI., 
  VII. 
  and 
  VIII. 
  

  

  The 
  Coccidse 
  — 
  Scale 
  or 
  Gale 
  insects 
  — 
  are 
  a 
  family 
  of 
  the 
  order 
  Homoptera. 
  

   They 
  are 
  exceedingly 
  common 
  in 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  and 
  I 
  may 
  say 
  that 
  

   in 
  New 
  Zealand 
  I 
  have 
  scarcely 
  come 
  across 
  a 
  single 
  plant 
  or 
  tree 
  that 
  is 
  

   not 
  in 
  some 
  way 
  attacked 
  hy 
  them. 
  In 
  many 
  instances 
  plants 
  are 
  found 
  

   with 
  several 
  species 
  of 
  Coccidse 
  living 
  on 
  them 
  together, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  the 
  

   numher 
  of 
  insects 
  on 
  a 
  leaf 
  is 
  so 
  great 
  as 
  entirely 
  to 
  cover 
  the 
  surface, 
  

   rendering 
  the 
  plant 
  very 
  unsightly. 
  

  

  Notwithstanding, 
  however, 
  the 
  enormous 
  number 
  of 
  these 
  insects 
  and 
  

   the 
  undoubted 
  damage 
  which 
  they 
  do, 
  there 
  is 
  not 
  much 
  known 
  about 
  

   them. 
  I 
  believe 
  I 
  am 
  correct 
  in 
  stating 
  that 
  in 
  this 
  colony 
  nobody 
  has 
  

   yet 
  attempted 
  to 
  study 
  them: 
  probably 
  the 
  very 
  great 
  incentives 
  to 
  research 
  

   in 
  other 
  branches 
  of 
  natural 
  history 
  have 
  diverted 
  attention 
  from 
  these 
  little 
  

   pests. 
  It 
  is, 
  however, 
  curious 
  that 
  in 
  older 
  countries 
  scarcely 
  more 
  know- 
  

   ledge 
  has 
  been 
  attained 
  regarding 
  the 
  Coccidae. 
  Books 
  and 
  papers 
  respect- 
  

   ing 
  them 
  are 
  certainly 
  not 
  few 
  in 
  number. 
  I 
  have 
  a 
  list 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  

   hundred 
  authors 
  who 
  have 
  written 
  something 
  upon 
  the 
  subject. 
  But, 
  with 
  

   the 
  exception 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  yielding 
  cochineal, 
  gum-lac, 
  and 
  other 
  articles 
  

   of 
  commercial 
  value, 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  whose 
  peculiarities 
  of 
  form 
  attracted 
  special 
  

   notice, 
  hardly 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  genera 
  or 
  species 
  have, 
  until 
  lately, 
  been 
  satisfac- 
  

   torily 
  described. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  authors 
  referred 
  to 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  contented 
  

   themselves 
  either 
  with 
  indefinite 
  accounts 
  or 
  with 
  copying 
  the 
  phrases 
  of 
  

   those 
  who 
  preceded 
  them. 
  

  

  An 
  application 
  to 
  the 
  Librarian 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Museum, 
  last 
  year, 
  made 
  

   known 
  to 
  me 
  a 
  work 
  by 
  M. 
  V. 
  Signoret, 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Entomological 
  

   Society 
  of 
  France, 
  giving 
  a 
  monographical 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  known 
  species 
  of 
  

   Coccidfe. 
  After 
  some 
  mouths' 
  delay 
  I 
  have 
  succeeded 
  in 
  procuring 
  this 
  

   work, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  to 
  express 
  my 
  thanks 
  to 
  Dr. 
  von 
  Haast 
  and 
  to 
  Professor 
  

   Milne-Edwards 
  of 
  Paris, 
  the 
  former 
  of 
  whom 
  wrote 
  for, 
  the 
  latter 
  of 
  whom 
  

   forwarded, 
  a 
  copy 
  of 
  M. 
  Signoret's 
  book 
  to 
  me, 
  

  

  