ii' 11 l 



84 MISC. PUBLICATION 42 4, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



"Die mannlichen Puppen haben ein braunliches Schild und sind kleiner wie 

 bei den Weibern. An letzteren ist die Riisselgegend dunkelbraun ; das Afterende 

 ausgerandet. Jung sind sie langlich, binten verschmalert, flach, gelb mit kurzen 

 Borsten gefranzt (an denen sicb im Alter die Absonderungen ansetzen). 

 Afterende mit vortretender Fleischspitze und jederseits eine lange Borste; sie 

 haben alsdann nur eine Lange von % Linie. 



"Es ist eine der zierlichsten Scharlachlause." 



In 1851 (11, p. 11%), he again described Lecanium epidendri as 

 follows : 



" $ oval, stark gewolbt, runzlig, filzig, dunkelbraun. Lange 4 Linie. Vater- 

 land Amerika. Auf den Arten von Epidendron." 



The female described in 1844 was unquestionably a species of 

 Asterolecanium, but the one described in 1851 was probably a species 

 of Coccus. Its size differentiates it from the epidendri described in 

 1844, and there is no reason to believe that Bouche was in error in 

 the measurement published in 1851, as has been suggested by Lindinger 

 {62, p. 167). So far as known, there were no references to Lecanium 

 epidendri Bouche from 1851 until 1868, when Boisduval published 

 three notes concerning Chermes epidendri (Bouche) in Insectologie 

 Agricole, the first on April 2 (5, p. 95), the second on May 2 (6, p. 

 127), and the third in October (7, p. 281). In each note Boisduval 

 listed the host as Epidendrum, and in two of them stated that the 

 insects were found in greenhouses. In Insectologie Agricole, Novem- 

 ber 1868 (8, p. SOI), however, Boisduval described Coccus aureus from 

 Maranta vittata from hothouses in Paris, and stated that the insect 

 had been brought to them by a foreigner with exotic plants. In 1869 

 Targioni-Tozzetti established the genus Aster olecanium and selected 

 aureum as its type (96, p. 734). 



In 1870 Signoret redescribed aureum, and indicated that he had 

 discussed and illustrated this species, though without naming it, in 

 a characterization of the genus Aster olecanium published in 1869 (87 < 

 p. 101, pi. If, figs. 5,6). He made the following statement at the end of 

 the description (88, pp. 277-278) : "Nous devons cette espece interes- 

 sante a l'obligeance de notre collegue et ami M. le docteur Boisduval, 

 sans lequel nous n'aurions pu faire qu'un travail peu important sur 

 cette f amille." Study of type material of aureum which has been avail- 

 able to the writer has settled the identity of the specimens described 

 by Boisduval and Signoret under that name, and has proved the 

 correctness of Targioni-Tozzetti's identification of specimens from 

 Anthurium in 1892 (98, pp. 304-311), which Cockerell questioned in 

 1896 (19, p. 8). 



Aster olecanium aureum is doubtless a synonym of epidendri. but the 

 synonymy must be assumed because Bouche's specimens of epidendri 

 presumably do not exist today and it is impossible to place the species 

 from his description. Bouche described epidendri from orchids in 

 greenhouses, and Boisduval so reported it, although he later described 

 aureum from Maranta vittata, a host belonging to the Marantaceae 

 but rather closely related to the Orchidaceae. Since his specimens 

 from Maramta are the same species found on orchids in greenhouses 

 in Europe and on orchids in the West Indies, tropical America, and 

 Ceylon, and since no other valid species of Asterolecanium from or- 

 chids has been encountered in greenhouses in Europe, the writer as- 

 sumes that aureum is a synonym of epidendri, as indicated by Lindinger 

 in 1934 (62, pp. 162, 169) , and in 1937 (65, p. 180) . 



