Aclerda 289 
ACLERDA, Szenoret. 
Aclerda, Sign., Ann. Soc. Fr. (5), Vol. IV. p. 96 (1896). 
Pseudolecanium, Ckll., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sct. Ph., p. 262 (1899). 
Signoret defines his genus as follows :—‘ Very near to Lecanopsis, Targ. 
Tozz., from which it is distinguished by the absence of antenne and feet in the 
adult. The body is thick, fleshy, almost soft, more or less hemispherical oval, 
but affecting however various forms, according to the place of attachment.’ 
This author was acquainted with a single species only, A. subterranea. In 
subsequently discovered species the form of the body is considerably modified 
by the habitat, most of the species being found beneath the ensheathing leaf- 
stalks of various gramineous plants. 
I cannot agree with Signoret in attributing to this genus any close relation- 
ship to Lecanopszs, which is a typical Lecaniid. It is at present convenient to 
include Ac/erda in this family, but it is extremely aberrant, and a careful study 
of the morphology of the terminal segments of the body throws some doubt. 
upon the correctness of the generally adopted position. At the same time, it 
must be acknowledged that the characters are still more unlike those of any 
other known family of Coccide. 
The anal segment, in the adult female, is characterised by an undivided 
median plate enclosed in a somewhat deep cleft. In certain species (e.g., der 
Zesit) this median process is partially divided at the apex, but I am doubtful if 
this really indicates a fusion of two original pieces. The anal tube breaks up, 
towards its outer extremity, into numerous hair-like points, which do not appear 
to partake of the character of the spiniform hairs of the anal ring in the typical 
Lecanting. There are no stigmatic clefts or specialised stigmatic spines. The 
antennz are represented only by minute setiferous tubercles. 
In the early larval stage of A. dzsforta (the only species in which the larva 
appears to have been studied), the anal segments show characters suggestive 
of both Dactylopiine and Lecaniine. There is a pair of fleshy tubercles, each 
having a stout seta, as in the former family, and between them a pair of thin 
conical plates suggestive of the valves of the anal operculum in Lecansine, from 
which however they differ in the absence of the usual sete. Between these, 
again, is a small median plate which appears to be peculiar to the species of 
this genus, and to those of Cevococcus (Asterolecaniine). 
The genus, though containing comparatively few species, occurs over a wide 
area. Species are recorded from Europe, the southern States of America, 
Natal, Japan, and India, 
