31 



ON A NEW AFRICAN SPECIES OF COCCIDAE. 



By J. W. Scott Macfie, M.A., B.Sc, 



West African Medical Staff, 



Ceronema africana, sp. n. 



Female (fig. 1). — Ovisac formed of thickly felted creamy-white to buff-white 

 secretion ; dorsum highly convex longitudinally and slightly so transversely, with 

 a series of 1 1 longitudinal and crenulated keels or ridges, of which the lateral 

 ones are very broad and flange-like and arise from points on the body of the 

 female considerably nearer the middle line than any of the others ; sides vertical, 

 with two or three curved or concentric keels similar to those on the dorsum, but 



Fig. 1. — Ceronema africana, Macfie ; females with ovisacs in situ ; 

 very slightly enlarged. 



there are also small transverse intervening lines which give the sides of the 

 ovisac a distinctly conchoidal appearance ; interior of ovisac smooth. Length, 

 6*50 to 8*50 mm. ; height, 6 to 7*50 mm. ; width, 6 to 7*25 mm. Old adult 

 female tilted as in Pulvinaria so that the front, which is distinctly produced, is 

 the only portion attached to the food-plant. In some instances the position of 

 the body is almost vertical, and in one example the anal portion projects actually 

 slightly in front of the cephalic margin. Dorsum with a median elongated patch 

 of opaque glassy secretion, the rest nude and dark brown in colour. 



Female after maceration in potash — broadly ovate, and usually distinctly 

 produced anteriorly. Derm covered irregularly with more or less circular cells 

 (fig. 2 A) with thick walls ; in the centre of each cell a circular aperture and a 



