The Coccidae of South Africa. 79 
Subfamily PSEUDOCOCCINAE. 
From an economic standpoint this subfamily is one of the most 
important because it includes, among others, those common insects 
known as mealy-bugs. 
These are of exceptional interest to entomologists, nurserymen, and 
fruit-growers because of (a) their general distribution, (h) their prevalence 
in orchards and vineyards, and (c) their resistance to ordinary control 
measures. 
This resistance is no doubt accounted for, in some measure at least, by 
the powdery waxy secretion which covers the body, and earns for them 
the popular name " mealy "-bugs. The common species, the long-tailed 
mealy-bug of ferns, etc., is the type of the genus Pseudococcus, to which 
most of our South African forms belong. 
It should be mentioned, however, that the subfamily Pseudococcinae 
has a much wider significance than is exhibited by this one genus, and, as 
it is at present constituted, appears in some ways an unnatural group. 
Synopsis of South African Genera. 
N.B. — Adult ? characters used. 
A. Anal ring loitli G Jiairs. 
I. Legs absent. 
[a.) Insects enclosed in felted sac. Antennae rudimentary, of 
two or three joints Antonina Sign. 
II. Legs present. 
(h) Body long and narrow. Antennae short, geniculate, of 
5 joints. Integument with some 3-grouped glands . . Rhizoenis Kunck. 
(c) Body broadly elliptical. Antennae 6-jointed. Insect 
inhabiting cysts at root of grass Natalejisia g. n. 
(rf) Body elongate oval. Antennae 7- to 9-jointed. Marginal 
spine areas produced on large, more or less rounded 
tubercles Tylococciis Newst. 
[e) Body usually elongate oval. Antennae 7- to 9-jointed, 
most commonly 8-jointed. Marginal spine areas not 
produced on tubercles Pseudococcus Westw. 
B. Anal ring icitli 8 hairs. 
if) Antennae 7-jointed. Insect enclosed in a dense sac . . Eriococcus Targ. 
[g) Antennae 8- or 9-jointed Puto (?) Sign. 
The Eelative Value of Specific Characters used in the 
Pseudococcinae. 
[a] Size. — It is difficult to state with any degree of accuracy the precise 
measurements of living mealy-bugs, for they are constantly moving, and 
