SCALE-INSECTS. 97 
Differs from the European R. gnidii in size, colour, and 
habitat, that species living on the roots of grass, while the New 
Zealand insect is arboreal. There are also differences in the 
foot and in the arrangement of the spines and hairs. 
It is possible that this insect may, in its latest stage, con- 
struct a sac: in that case, it would belong to Eriococcus. 
59. Ruizococcus rossor, Maskell. 
N.Z. Trans., Vol. XVI., 1888, p. 186. 
(Plate XVI., Fig. 2.) 
Female naked in all stages, but the adult usually buried in 
a pit. 
Male pupa enclosed in a white, elongated, cottony sac, which 
is about zim. long. 
Adult female greenish-yellow in colour, sometimes brown, 
stationary ; sometimes resting on the leaf, usually partly 
enclosed ma circular pit; almost circular in outline, flat beneath 
and slightly convex above; length, about jin. Im the last 
stage, after gestation, it becomes dark-brown. The cephalic part 
is smooth; the remainder segmented. The abdomen ends in 
two very small anal tubercles, which are nevertheless somewhat 
conspicuous on account of their brown colour. Between them 
there protrudes a long thick pencil of white cotton. Antenne 
short, with six joints, the last jomt bearing several long hairs. 
Feet very small; the femur rather thick; the tibia is shorter 
than the tarsus by about one-third; the four digitules are long 
fine hairs. The anal tubercles have not terminal setz ; anal 
ring inconspicuous. <A row ofa few conical spines, set far apart, 
runs round the edge of the body, but none elsewhere, nor any 
circular spimnerets. There is no sign of a sac in any stage. 
Female of the second stage oval, flatter than the adult, and 
of a rich golden colour; length, about #jin. The segments of 
the body are somewhat more distinct than in the adult. The 
anal tubercles are proportionately larger, and bear terminal 
sete. Antenne longer than in the adult, with six joints. Feet 
also longer. All round the edge runs a row of conical spines, 
set more closely than in the adult; and from each of these 
springs a long curly tube of white cotton, making a kind of 
fringe to the body ; each tube is a little dilated at the end, and 
then tapers to a narrow point. The base of cach conical spine is 
a somewhat large tubercle. 
7 
