C 170 ] 



XXXVI. Description of and Observations on the Coccus 

 Laricis, or Mealy Insect, which infests the Larch. In a 

 Letter to the Secretary. By Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart. 

 F. H. S. $c. 



Read July 7, 1818. 



Dear Sir, 



The cultivation of Timber trees, in a national point of view, 

 is an object of such importance, that it imperiously demands 

 the attention of every British subject, and although doubts 

 may be entertained, whether it falls within the peculiar pro- 

 vince of the Horticulturist, yet the Members of the Horticul- 

 tural Society cannot, I should hope, be accused of encroach- 

 ing upon the pursuits of others, if they occasionally extend 

 the sphere of their survey beyond the limits of the garden to 

 the more gigantic vegetables of the forest. 



It is under this impression, that I now transmit to you the 

 following account of an Insect which has been very detrimen- 

 tal to the Larch Fir, more especially when growing upon rich 

 loamy soils. My observation was first attracted by the simila- 

 rity which its mealy web bears to that of the Aphis lanigera, 

 and I imagined, from this circumstance, that it might have 

 been allied to that insect. Upon a closer inspection, how- 

 ever, this error was soon detected : and I discovered that the 

 mealy appearance upon the bark, and leaves of the Larch, was 



