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Psyche 
[September 
living archeococcids. Specialized features of the Electrococcus male 
include : 1 ) reduction of the compound eye to a single dorsoventral 
row of ommatidia; 2) the strong forward inclination of the thorax; 
3) the development of broad anterior extensions of the scutum which 
enclose the prescutum laterally; 4) the absence of dorsal abdominal 
tubular duct clusters; and 5) small size. 
The presence of a dorsoventral row of simple eyes in adult male 
Coccoidea is generally interpreted as stage of reduction intermediate 
between the complete compound eye typical of most male archeococ- 
cids and the isolated dorsal and ventral simple eyes which are the 
last remaining vestiges of the compound eye in the majority of male 
neococcids. Among extant Coccoidea, males of six well differentiated 
groups (families or subfamilies) have eyes of same general type 
of Electrococcus. Of these two are specialized margarodids; Steingelia 
(Steingelinae) and Pityococcus (Pityococcinae) (Theron, 1958; 
Beardsley, unpublished). Two additional groups; Puto (Putoidae) 
and Phenacoleachia ( Phenacoleachiidae) are morphologically and 
cytologically primitive neococcids (Theron, i960; Beardsley, 1962; 
Brown and Cleveland, 1968), while the two remaining groups, 
Kermes (Kermidae) and some genera of the family Coccidae (Gil- 
iomee, 1967), are somewhat more specialized neococcids. 
In Table I, certain morphological features of the Electrococcus 
male are compared with those of other groups having eyes in dorso- 
ventral rows. This table is based upon direct comparison of speci- 
mens in all groups^ as well as on published information. Of the 
groups compared, only males of Phenacoleachia (Theron, 1962), 
Steingelia (Theron, 1958) and the Coccidae (Giliomee, 1967) have 
been described in adequate detail. The evidence suggests that the 
Electrococcus male is more similar to males of Pityococcus than to 
any of the others. 
The structure of the cephalic and thoracic sclerites in Electrococcus 
indicates that it is the male of a specialized archeococcid or a very 
primitive neococcid. The several points of similarity between this 
specimen and males of Pityococcus have led me to conclude that 
Electrococcus is probably a specialized type of margarodid, possibly 
related to modern Pityococcinae. 
The relatively high degree of morphological specialization in the 
Electrococcus male indicates that at least the archeococcids had al- 
ready undergone considerable divergence before the end of the Cre- 
taceous, and suggests that the original divergence of the ancestors 
of modern Coccoidea and Aphidoidea probably occurred relatively 
early in the Cretaceous, or even before. 
