July 1, 1898.] Supplement to tlte '^Tropical Agriculturist;^ 
n 
more properly an " Orthezia " — for such is the 
proper rendering of this generic name ; siJecifiCiiUy 
it iti Orthezia insiynis. AVe ■nill speak of it by its 
generic name. 
Ortliezia has its montli parts formed for piercing 
and sucki/ifi', and obtains its nourishment by imbi- 
bition of phxiit sap as do all the numerous species 
of sciile insects. The young are very small. They 
Avould hardly be discerned on a plant were it not 
for the presence of snow-white plates of waxy 
master which occur on the back and sides, and 
wliich contrast strongly with the darker bnck- 
ground ot the body. The plates on the b:;ck are 
narrow and are arranged in two rows, one on either 
side of the middle ; those on tlie sides are broad 
and promineiU and are in a single series as seen 
from above. There is a single jjlate in eacli series 
to each segment or joint of the budy, but as the 
plates develop they become more or less united. 
The adult female insect measures about inch 
in leiigih and is not much narrower; It resembles 
the young insect in appearance, but bears in r.diU- 
(ion to tlie white jilates on the back and sides, a 
somewhat cyiindiical sac of the same substance 
projeciing from the abdomen. In fully matured 
females the sac is from tliree to four times the 
length of the body proper, thus malcing tlie com- 
plete insect meisure up to \ inch in lengtii- The 
width of the sac is about the same as the widlh of 
the body. Its upper surface is fluted and is 
partially covered in front by the projecting 
plates for the converging sides of the body. 
Tlie snc is for the ireceptioii of the: eggs as tiiey 
pass from the body, of the mother, and here they 
are retained in a mass of cotton-like substance 
until they hatch. The young efcape through 
an opening at the end or the upper surface. 
Tlie ajjpenrance of the mature female as a 
whole suggests a miniature extremely slim 
Australian bug; but any gardener having seen 
both the insects would never mistake the one 
for the other. And while the ovisac of the 
Auslrnlian bag is soft to touch, that of Orthezia 
is comparatively firm ; and the colour of the in- 
sect itself, instead of being reddish, as in the case 
of the former insect, is dark green. 
Tlie young insects are quite lively when they 
emerge from the ovisac and scatter quickly t.Vr^r 
the stem and under side of the leaves of the food 
plant. As they grow older they become some- 
what sluggish ; but they always retain their power 
©f locomotion, and even the heavily egg-laden 
female may often be seen moving slowly and 
sedately along with lier ovisac highly elevated. 
The appearance of the insect at such times is 
almost ludicrous. 
From l^.; to 200 eggs are laid, and there are three, 
perhaps four, generations in the course of a year. 
The females greatly outnumber the males; in fact, 
it is probable that several generations may be 
passed without any of the male sex being deve- 
loped. AVe have seen no males on any of the plants 
tluisfar found infested in the Colony. As in other 
coccids, the male is totally unlike the female in 
appearance ; it is a tiny, two-winged, flying insect 
without mouth-parts and therefore short-live<l, 
but with well-developed legs, anteunns and eyes. 
A characteristic brush of long, slender, fragile, 
white, thread-like bodies (tihimeuts) projects from 
pear tlio eiul of the abdomen. 
OccrnRENCE AbrOxVD. — Northern South America 
is sujiposed to be the native home of this insect. It 
also occurs, perhaps as a native, in Mexico and 
some of the West Indies. In 1887 it was disco- 
vered in greenhouses in England, and three years 
later it was reported as a very troublesome pest 
by American florists in 'the vicinity of jN'ew York. 
From England it v/as accidentally ir-troduced 
into Ceylon, or at least it was supposed that the 
jdants from England carried it to Ceylon, and it 
was reported iir 1895 to be becoming a destruc- 
tive pest in tlie vicinity of where it was 
introduced. 
How and when it got to the Cape is yet 
unknown to us. It was first difcovered a few 
weeks ago on some coleus plants exhibited at 
the Western Agricultural Show. The plants were 
traced at once to the grounds from which they 
came, and it was there found that a large number 
of plants of the same kind ^^ ere much infested. 
On learning that tlte insect was new to the 
country and one liable to prove a dangerous pest, 
tlie owner at once promised to have all the in- 
fested plants destroyed, and to keep a sharp 
look-out for the insect iu the future. But he 
was unable to say more concerning the insect 
than that it did not attract his attention till within 
the last year. lie has imported no plants in recent 
years to which suspicion can be attached, and 
the j)est is not presoit at the only place from 
which he has obtained cuttings of coleus. 
The vaiious floral establishments about town 
liave since been visited, but no trace of the 
insect has been found at any one of them. 
There is a possibility that we have discovered the 
insect in time to secure its extermination, but the 
chances are that infested plants have been dis- 
tributed from the place where we found it, and 
it seem= iirobable that tlie ]3lants at this place 
became infested from some source within the 
Colony. 
It may be well to note tliat tlierc are specimens 
of the insect in the South African Museum 
marked " Durban, Xatal," There is no date on 
the labels, but it is supposed that the speci- 
mens has not yet been traced, and though it is 
most likely that they are taken from a house 
plant from which tlie insect did not escape, 
there is also the possibility that the insect luis 
become established in some part of Natal, and that 
it is from that source that the insect was in- 
troduced into the Colony. 
Orthezia appears to be most partial to coleus, 
and it is only on this plant that it lias been 
found near C ipe Town. But tlie number of plants 
which the insect attacks in other countries is a 
long one and includes many of our common garden 
plants, as well as a number found growing wild 
in the bush. Next to coleus, lantana is most 
attacked ; its desttuctiveness to this plant dis- 
proves the inference somewhat naturally drawn 
that the insect is one which can only flourisli on 
soft succulent growth. Citrus fruit trees are 
included among its food plants, and relative 
to its occurrence on these plants, we quote the 
following from a j)ersonal letter written to us 
three years ago by Prof T. D. A. Cockerell, the 
authority in America on the group of insects 
to which this one belongs: — " Mr. Hart sends it 
(Orthezia) ladly iufe«ting limo trees iu TriuiUud, 
