24 ROBERT NEWSTEAD. 



with four or five apical bristles. Stigmatic clefts (fig. 16, c) clearly defined but 

 small ; spines three, all of them stout and bluntly pointed, the central one curved 

 and a little more than twice the length of the laterals. Marginal spines (fig. 16, c) 

 in two irregular rows ; these are of two forms : one long and stout, with fine lateral 

 hairs ; the other much shorter, usually simple, but here and there one may be found 

 with a divided tip. Arising from near the insertion of each antenna is a group of 

 three bristles, each successively longer than the other, the longest being nearly equal 

 in length to the 2nd and 3rd segments of the antennae togerther. Derm cells irre- 

 gularly oval or circular, but these are quite obscure in the majority of the specimens. 

 Length, 1*8-2 -2 mm. Length of ovisac, 3 '5-4 mm. ; width, 1*5 mm. (average). 



Gold Coast : Accra, on guava, 2.viii.l6 (Dr. J. W. Scott Macfie) ; heavy infesta- 

 tion. 



Clearly this is not Pulvitmria psidii, Mask., as defined by either Maskell* or 

 Greenf . It differs in a marked degree in the form of the ovisac, and also in the 

 character of the marginal spines, which are not dilated and dentate distally and are 

 moreover, so far as I can judge, relatively very much larger, more irregularly arranged 

 and not nearly so uniform in length. It is also not specifically identical with the 

 specimens of P. psidii, Mask., recorded by me in this Bulletin (Vol. i, p. 67, and Vol. 

 ii, p. 94). Many of the examples were attacked by a parasitic fungus, and they were 

 also preyed upon by a predaceous Lepidopterous larva, of which there were several 

 examples. A description of the cocoons of the latter is appended below. 



Larva with the whole of the upper surface protected by a tough silken cocoon, 

 into which is incorporated the remains of the Coccid (Pulvinaria africana, Newst.) 

 and its ovisac ; the bodies of the female Coccids often more or less intact ; the remains 

 of the ovisacs are sometimes arranged in narrow spiral-like bands, or they may 

 completely cover the semi-cocoon. Plant hairs and the mycelium of a fungus also 

 present. Ventral surface of the larva nude. 



Cocoon, containing a parasitised pupa, complete, but thinner on the ventral surface 

 than elsewhere. The general form is slightly more elongate than the semi-cocoon of 

 the larva. Comminuted remains of the Coccid and its ovisac incorporated, as in the 

 cocoon of the larva. 



Ceroplasies avicenniae, sp. nov. 



Female test. More or less hemispherical, smooth and more or less evenly rounded, 

 with very faint traces of plates, apparently arranged as follows : one dorsal, one 

 anterior, two bilateral and one anal ; in each of the first three is a dark brown or 

 almost black nuclear spot with a white centre ; the anal plate with three similar 

 spots placed closely together, the central one, formed by the tip of the caudal pro- 

 cess, being without a white centre. Two examples gave the following measurements : 

 (1) length, 7*5 mm., diameter, 7 mm., height t 6 mm. ; (2) length, 7 mm., diameter, 

 6 mm., height, 6 mm. 



Female, adult. Semiglobular in shape, but slightly longer than broad ; integument 

 highly chitinised but thin ; submarginal tubercles well developed and five in number ; 



* N.Z. Trans., XXV, p. 223 (1892). 

 f Coccidae of Ceylon, p. 264 (1909). 



