1886.] E. T. Atkinson— O^Ai tie Homopterous Family Coccidaa. 2G7 



XV. — Insect-Pests belonging to the Homoj^terous Family Coccidae. 

 By E. T. Atkinson, B. A., President. 



[Received and read July 7th, 1886.] 



In a recent paper on the Homopterous section of the Indian Rhyn- 

 chote, it was remarked (p. 205 supra) that the group to which the 

 Goccidm belong had been practically nnworked in India, and that whoever 

 takes them up will probably have little aid from what has been written 

 about them. Further research shows no reasons for modifying this state- 

 ment ; and the object of the present paper is to introduce the family to 

 the notice of observers in India. 



The more immediate cause of the early appearance of the paper is 

 the receipt of letters from Ceylon asking for aid in the discrimination 

 of Ceylonese species, and, as the inquiry is still in its infancy, it appears 

 to me that the better plan will be to publish extracts from these letters 

 in our Proceedings and invite the aid of those who are inclined to 

 assist in this investigation. This aid may be afforded by collecting 

 specimens in spirits, accurately watching and recording transformations 

 and the seasons at which these occur ; the soil, aspect, climate which 

 appear to favour or retard the spread of the insects ; accounts of any 

 experiments for destroying the pests ; general and particular effects 

 of each species on tea, coffee, chinchona, or other economical products, 

 local history of first appearance, continuance, &c., enemies of the pests, 

 whether Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, or Acari. 



COCCID^. 

 Coccus, Linn. : Coccidoe, Leach, Westw, : Gallinsecta, Latr. : Goccides, Sign. 

 The insects of this family are commonly known as scale-insects or 

 gall-insects and some of them, from the white farinose substance se- 

 creted by them, as mealy-bugs. They are common on almost all trees and 

 plants in all parts of the world, and frequently commit great havoc on 

 those cultivated for food or industrial purposes such as the coffee, tea, 

 chinchona, orange, lemon, apple, and other fruit-trees : with the excep- 

 tion of the Carteria lacca, Ker, and a few others, their history has never 

 been studied in India, and it is with the object of showing the character 

 and forms of these insects sufficiently to aid in their determination that 

 the following outline history of the family is given. It is chiefly based 

 on the writings of Bouche, Costa, West wood, Targioni-Tozzetti, Sig- 

 noret, Maskell, Comstock, and Low. 



The Linncean genus Coccus was divided by Geoffrey into two sections, 



