of the family coccidae 153 



Table 4. List of Characters which Separate Species 



Characters Erio- Pulvin- Partheno- Cero- 



peltis aria lecanium plastes 



17. Length of hind tarsus in relation to 



its width. X 



18. Presence of median pronotal setae. 

 i<i. Presence of coxal bristles. 



20. No. of fleshy pleural setae on 7th 

 abdominal segment 



21. No. of fleshy ventral setae on 

 7th abdominal segment 



12.. Size of aedeagus (e.g. in relation to 

 basal rod or aedeagus). 



Relationships of the Coccidae with other Subdivisions of the Coccoidae 



The division of the Coccoidea into the margaroid, lecanoid and diaspidoid types 

 by Balachowsky (1937, 1942) has been generally supported by the results of more 

 detailed investigations of the adult males (Theron, 1958), as well as by cytological 

 studies (Hughes-Schrader, 1942 ; Brown, 1959). Of the families of which the 

 males have been studied intensively, the margaroid type includes the Margarodidae 

 and Phenacoleachiidae (Theron, 1958, 1962), the lecanoid type the Pseudococcidae 

 and Coccidae, and the diaspidoid type the Diaspididae. Theron (1958) showed 

 that the Pseudococcidae and Coccidae were very closely related and that their 

 closest relatives were found in the margarodid Steingelia on the one hand and the 

 Diaspididae on the other. He regarded the diaspidoids as being more closely related 

 to the lecanoids than the latter are to the margaroids and this view was supported 

 by Ghauri (1962). 



Theron's conclusions regarding the affinities of the Coccidae were based mainly 

 on the one species that he studied in detail, Parthenolecanium pomeranicum. The 

 results of the present investigation, in which a fairly representative sample of the 

 Coccidae was studied, generally confirm and supplement Theron's observations. 

 A few structures of morphological importance, which were either overlooked or 

 absent in the species studied by Theron, can be recorded here : 



1. Vestigial dorsal part of the midcranial ridge. This short median ridge is present 

 in some members of the EU LECANIUM and COCCUS groups, though not in the 

 species studied by Theron. It is more fully developed in the Pseudococcidae 

 (Theron, 1958 ; Giliomee, 1961), but absent in the Diaspididae (Ghauri, 1962). 

 The greater reduction or absence of the dorsal section of the midcranial ridge (con- 

 sidered to be primary) is a specialization in the Coccidae. 



2. Interocalar ridge. This ridge, which connects the pre- and postocular ridges 

 below the ocellus, is present and alwavs well developed in the ERIOPELTIS group. 



