28 Indian Museum Notes. [YoL III. 



almost impossible for a few Horticulturists to try to eradicate the pest 

 while their indifferent neighbours are harbouring hot beds of them, and 

 there will have to be some strong- measures taken by law to put it down." 

 Referring to the statement that '^a breeze sends the cottony pest down 

 in all directions," it is evident that it is the white waxy appendages that 

 are blown about, and not the insects themselves; so fragile are tbe 

 foi-mer that it is difficult to obtain perfect examples of the insects. 



Again Dr. Riley writes (Vol. III. p. 423). Through the kindness of 

 Mr. Louis B, Grant, Acting Consul-General at Cairo, and of the Depart- 

 ment of State, this Department has received copies of publications from 

 Alexandria and Cairo, from which it seems tbat the insect is even more 

 injurious than our previous information, througli Mr. D. Morris, led us 

 to suppose. It is by no means confined to fig trees, but has attacked 

 oranges and lemons. Dr. Riley then suggests the collecting of the white 

 wax, which he says " is absolutely pure and, we should say, of equal 

 quality with the wliite Chinese wax secreted by Ericerus Fe-ln, having 

 the advantage of not being mixed with the bodies of the insects.''^ 



Miss Tomlin found all her specimens on the under-sides of the leaves 

 of a purple-leaved plant very like a coleus, in the compound at Nungum- 

 baukum, Madras, December 13th, 1892, where it was very abundant but 

 local. All the specimens Miss Tomlin forwarded to me were immature 

 females, except two or three which had partly formed their ovisacs, but 

 there were no eggs in them. Lying alongside the females, were 

 numerous examples of the male sacs, but I failed to find a trace of the 

 perfect insect amongst them; all had undoubtedly hatched some time 

 before the sacs were collected, which is unfortunate as the male of this 

 species is unknown, and its discovery would be of great interest and 

 value. 



Fortunately I had specimens of the females from Egypt in all 

 stao-es, and was therefore able to compare them with the Indian 

 specimens, which I did and found them to agree in every particular with 

 the immature examples : both as to the arrangement of the waxy plates 

 and structurally. Below I append a description of the second stage, 

 female and male sac, which has not hitherto been described. 



5 Second stage (fig. II, 2a, ; 25. 2(^.) bright orange, but only seen 

 on the under-side, or in other parts when denuded of the waxy covering. 

 Dorsum in perfect specimens covered with pure white, conglomerate, 

 waxen plates, irregular in shape; margin all round with long narrow 

 curly plates. Fig. 2a!. represents the insect's natural size on leaves of 

 tbe food-plant ; fig. 25., U. the same magnified. Dorsal and ventral 

 view, with the appendages more or less imperfect ; fig. 2^. dorsal view 

 of perfect specimen ; all of the same age. The antennae vary in the 



