THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST 
Vot. XXVII. —. December, 1893. 324 
NOTES ON THE COCHINEAL INSECT. 
BET IE A COCKERELL. 
The following notes have been put together in the hope 
that they may tend towards a better understanding of the 
genus Coccus, as now restricted. Notwithstanding the vol- 
uminous literature on the subject of cochineal, it cannot be 
sald that the insect producing this substance is adequately 
known to entomologists, or that the affinities of the genus 
in which it is placed are altogether well understood. 
At the outset we have to inquire, what is Coccus cacti? 
According to Watt (Dict. Econ. Prod. India, Vol. II), it was 
discovered by the Spaniards in Mexico in 1518, but was not 
made known in Europe until 1523. The name Coccus cacti 
seems to have been applied to it as early as 1651 by Hernan- 
.dez, but of course the species is now credited to Linné. 
. Coccus cacti Linné, as understood by its author, is simply the 
cochineal-producing insect found on cacti in Mexico. It need 
hardly be said that minute details, such as are now considered 
of generic and specific importance in the Coccidz, were not 
| taken into account in the definition of the species. 
: In the present century, however, it began to be suspected 
E. that there was more than onespecies. Signoret, writing about 
. twenty years ago, mentions three segregates from the old C. 
cacti, nainely, C. tomentosus Lam., C. bassi Targ., and C. sylvestre 
"Thierry:de Meronville. These, he says, are supposed species, 
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