7 



COCCID^, OR SCALE INSECTS.— II. 



By T. D. a. Cockerell, F.Z.S., Curator of the Museum, Institute of Jamaica. 



It will be my endeavour, in this and subsequent papers, to so describe the West Indian Coccid» 

 ^hat they may be recognised by any-one who is willing to take a little trouble in examining them, 

 without having any particular knowledge of Entomology. For this reason, all technical terms and 

 microscopical details will be avoided as much as possible ; although in certain cases the use of th© 

 microscope is absolutely necessary to determine the identity of a species, and therefore microscopical 

 characters must be cited. Strictly Entomological articles, describing the characters of the spacies ia 

 in detail, will be published elsewhere. 



It is proper to state that although all the kn.owii West Indian Coccidse will be described in these 

 papers, new species, and even new genera, are frequently being found, rendering any list which might 

 be published incomplete in a short time. For this reason, nobody need be much surprised if he should 

 come across a scale not resembling anything I have described. In the event of such a dis^sovery it 

 will be necessary to send specimens to the present writer or some other student of Coccidae, in order 

 that they may be properly classified. 



Before describing the species, it is desirable to give an account of the 23 genera in which they 

 are included. These are comprised in four sub-families, known as the Moiiophlehiiue, Cocoiuoe, 

 Lecaniinoe, and Diaspince. This arrangement is derived from Mr. Ashmead's generic synopsis 

 {Trans. Amer. Eiit. Soc, 1891), and although it appears to require revision, it may be adopted in the 

 present instance. 



(I.) MoHophlebinoe. 



The adult females are active or stationary, segmented, with no scale, but frequently more or less 

 covered with a mealy, cottony or waxy secretion. The antennae have 10 or 11 joints (rarely 9). 

 The males have facetted eyes. 



(1.) leery a, Signoret. The adult females have eleven joints to the antennae, a character which 

 should be observed, in order to distinguish them from similar-looking species of the next sub-family, 

 in which the joints are fewer. /. rosce, the only species yet observed in Jamaica, is a plaoip greyish 

 insect, about the size of a half-pea, and more or less covered with mealy secretion. The larvae are red. 

 This is found on rose, Amherstia, and other plants. Mrs. Swainson found it in some plenty under 

 the^barkof lignum- vitee in Kingston. Another species, I. inoiitserratensis, ia toaad in Montserrat 

 and Trinidad. 



(II.) Coccince. 



These resemble the last family a good deal, but the antennae of the adult female have from 6 to 

 9 joints ; and there is usually a pair of distinct, though sometimes short filaments arising from the 

 hind end of the body. The posterior cleft, which is so noticeable in the next family, is wanting, 



(2.) Dactylopius, ^ignovei. The species of this genus are commonly known as "mealybugs". 

 The antennae of the adult females have eight (rarely seven) joints. These insects, which abound oa 

 various trees and shrubs, are small, soft, and more or less oval in shape, with the segmentation distinct 

 and the body partly covered with a mealy secretion. Some of the species have a fringe of cottony or 

 mealy appendages all round the body, and a pair of very distinct caudal filaments ; while others lack 

 these ornaments. Two species are common in Kingston ; and a little pink species may be found inside 

 the cavities of pine apples. A curious new species has been found by Dr. Strachau at the CaicDS Is., 

 Bahamas. 



(3.) Coccus, Linne. This genus comprises the cochineal insect, which may be found on Opimtia iu 

 the Parade Garden, Kingston. It occurs in masses covered by white secretion, but if this is scraped 

 away with a knife the true cochineal colour will be observed. The antennae of the female have seven 

 joints. 



(4.) Margarodes, Gruilding. Consists of one species, a curious insect found in Antigua and the Baham- 

 as, living in the ground associated with ants. It has some resemblance to a psarl, and is accDrdingly 

 known as the " ground pearl." The adult female has antennae of seven joints, and is said to lack a 

 rostrum. 



(III.) Lecaniinoe. 



The distinguishing character of this group is the presence of a distinct cleft at the posterior end 

 of the body, above which is a pair of more or less triangular plates. The sub-family, according to 

 Ashmead's arrangement, includes some very little related genera, which ought not, in my opinion, to 

 be referred to it. These I shall provisionally class below as aberrant genera. 



(5.) Lecanium, Illiger. A genus with many species differing very much in appearance. They 

 have no scale, properly speaking, but the back of the female is so constructed that it represents a scale. 

 The adult females have antennae of from 6 to 8 joints. The shape of these insects is sometimes flat 

 and oval in outline, sometimes high and elongated, like a flat-bottomed boat turned upside down, and 

 sometimes hemispherical. The colour of the flat species may be green or brown, that of the convex 

 ones brown or black. Some are viviparous, others produce eggs. A subgenus, Beriiardia, Ashmead, 

 is hemispherical, browner black, with some indication of ridges, at least in the young, and eight-jointed 

 antennae. It is a member of this subgenus, the brown scale," that is so injurious to creepers and 

 other plants in Kingston. 



(6.) Ceroplastcs, Gray. Scratch a Ceroplastes, and you have a Lecanium. That is to say, the wax- 

 scales, Ceroplastes, are like the hemispherical brown Lecaniums except that they are covered with a 

 layer of wax, Sometimes this wax forms distinct plates, but in other species this is not the case. Ia a 



