


HEMIPTERA, 139 

The Coccus ilicis develops itself almost exclusively, not on the 
green oak, but on the Quercus coccifera, or kermes oak, a shrub 
common in dry arid places on the Continent, and which vegetates 
on a great number of spots on the Mediterranean, particularly 
on the garrigues or waste lands of Herault. 
The females of this insect, which, dried, bear the name of 
graines de kermes, are of the size of an ordinary currant, without 
any trace of rings, nearly spherical, of a violet and glaucous 
colour. They adhere to the boughs of the shrub Quercus coccifera, 
and form dry, brittle masses, which the peasants of the south of 
France collect, and sell at a tolerably high price. 
Before we possessed the cochineal of Mexico and of Algeria, 
this cochineal was very much employed in the south of Europe, 
in the East, and in Africa. It furnishes a beautiful red colour. 
This last named and the Mexican cochineal are somewhat used 
in pharmacy. They enter into alkermes, a sort of liquor served 
at dinner in Italy, chiefly at Florence and Naples. 
Another species of cochineal is the Coccus polonicus, which 1s 
met with in Poland and Russia, more rarely in France, on the 
roots of a small plant, the Scleranthus perennis. This cochineal 
is gathered in the Ukraine towards the end of June, when the 
abdomen of the females is swollen, and filled with a purple and 
sanguineous juice. 
The Polish kermes (Coccus polonicus) was formerly used very 
much in Europe. This product has not indeed lost all its im- 
portance in those countries where it is met with in abundance. 
We have now only to point out among the insects of this group 
the Coccus locca, which lives in India on many trees, among 
others on the Indian fig-tree, the Pagoda fig-tree, the Jujube tree, 
on the Croton, «ce. 
These last-mentioned insects produce a colouring matter known 
under the name of lac. They fix themselves on the little branches, 
getting together in great numbers, forming nearly straight lines. 
The bodies of many fecundated females, united together by a 
resinous exudation which is caused by the piercing of the bark, 
constitutes the matter called in commerce, and by dyers, by the 
name of lac, resinous lac, gum lac, &c. 
Resinous lac is found in commerce under four forms: first, the 

