No. 2. J Notes; 117 



with the permission of the author, for convenience of reference. The 

 figures in plate VII are taken from the lithographed drawings that 

 accompanied his paper. 



" Life-liistory of the Green-scale Bug {Lecanium viride).— Ihe insects appear as 

 small, oval, green scales, clustered thickly, chiefly upon the under surfaces of the leaves 

 and upon the young shoots of the coffee tree. The full-grown female measures about 

 one eighth of an inch in length and about half as much in breadth. On the upper sur- 

 face the eyes are visible as two small black spots at one end, which is the head of the 

 insect, and is nearly always pointed towards the stalk of the leaf. The insect is pro- 

 vided with one pair of antennae, three pairs of short legs, and a very fine hair-like 

 sucking tube, situated between the front pair of legs. 



" The eggs, which vary in number, but are seldom more than twenty, are hidden by 

 the body of the living insect, and are hatched in that position. The young larva is 

 only visible to the naked eye as a minute speck. It is very active, and moves freely 

 from leaf to leaf, deserting the old and spreading over the young shoots, where it 

 finally settles itself, and soon developes the scale characteristic of the mature insect. 



" It is in this early larval stage, probably, that the pest is chiefly propagated, as 

 besides its own powers of locomotion, it is liable to be transported by wind, in the 

 feathers of birds, and upon coolies' clothing. This last is probably the chief agent by 

 which it is extended. The young insect (as I have proved by experiment) will live for 

 many days without food, and might easily be unconsciously transported from one dis- 

 trict to another over considerable distances. 



" The male insect is at present unknown. It is probable that the insects now exist- 

 ing, though externally resembling the female form, are asexual, and that their broods 

 are produced by the phenomenon known as 'Parthenogenesis,' by which several 

 successive generations are fertile without the aid of the male element (as is known to 

 occur in the development of Aphis and a few allied insects). Professor Huxley states 

 that 'the number of successive broods has no certain limit, but is, so far as we know 

 at present, controlled only by temperature and the supply of food.' (Linns., XXII., 

 page 198.) 



" Distinction beticeen fresent and former Black Bug. — Mr. Neitner, in his 

 ' Observation son the Natural History of the Enemies of the Coffee Tree,' describes 

 two species of Scale Bug under the names of Lecanium coffece (Brown or Scaly Bug) 

 and Lecanium nigrum (Black Bug). It was the first of these two that in former years 

 was chiefly destructive to coffee. The present species, which I have called in dis- 

 tinction Lecanium viride (Green Scale Bug), differs from the other two in many 

 particulars. 



Colour of eggs of L. viride . . . Pale green. 



Ditto ditto L. coffece . . . Pale red. 



Ditto ditto L. nigrum . . . Pale red. 



Colour of half-grown larva of L. viride . Pale green. 



Ditto ditto L. coffece . Pale brown to crimson. 



Ditto ditto L. nigrum. . Yellow to dull orange. 



Colour of mature insect, L. viride . . Bright green. 



Ditto ditto L. coffees . . Yellow-grey to brown. 



Ditto ditto L. nigrum . . Eeddish brown to black. 



" The individuals of L. viride are densely packed, frequently overlapping each other 

 along the mid- rib and veins upon the under surface of the coffee leaves, and occasionally 

 upon the upper surface also. The head of each insect is pointed towards the base 

 of the leaf or shoot upon which it is placed. 



" The groups of L. coffece are indiscriminately scattered over the under surface of the 

 leaves and upon the young branches, apparently without any definite arrangement. 



