Sac of male pupa narrow, cylindrical, white, cottony, open at the posterior end. Length, about 1/8in.
Adult male about 1/20in. long; brown, covered when newly hatched with white meal. Body rather thick; abdominal spike short. Antennæ of ten joints, hairy; the last eight joints equal to each other. Feet slender, hairy; upper digitules long, fine; lower digitules short.
Habitat--On _Panax_, _Rubus_, _Coprosma_, _Pittosporum_, _Piper excelsum_, &c.; throughout the Islands: also frequently on fruit-trees.
A species more nearly resembling the ordinary "mealy bug," _D. adonidum_, than any other in New Zealand; but differing in colour, in the absence of long marginal appendages, and in the form of the foot and antennæ.
63. Dactylopius poæ, Maskell. N.Z. Trans., Vol. XI., 1878, p. 220. (Plate XVIII., Fig. 1.)
Adult female pink, covered with thin white meal; slightly elongated, sometimes globular; flat beneath, convex above; segmented, the segments indistinct. Length reaching about 1/10in. Antennæ of eight joints, very short. Feet normal, very short; upper digitules short, lower digitules absent (?). Anal tubercles extremely small and inconspicuous; each has three conical spines, but no hairs. Anogenital ring large, with six hairs. On the dorsum are numbers of small circular spinnerets.
Habitat--On the common tussock grass, _Poa anceps (australis?)_, Mount Grey Downs and Port Hills, Canterbury; either just above the ground, or more often an inch or two below the surface.
A species clearly distinct in form and habit.
Adult females covered with cottony secretion; stationary; antennæ of nine joints; anogenital ring conspicuous, with six hairs; upper digitules of the foot absent.
64. Pseudococcus asteliæ, Maskell. N.Z. Trans., Vol. XVI., 1883, p. 139. (Plate XVIII., Fig. 2.)
Adult female about 1/10in. long, yellowish-brown, covered with a not very abundant white cotton; segmented; anal tubercles inconspicuous; anal ring with six hairs. Antennæ with nine joints, of which the third, fourth, and fifth are the longest; the second, sixth, and ninth a little shorter; the first, seventh, and eighth the shortest. The fourth, fifth, and sixth are the narrowest, the two ends of the antennæ being thicker than the middle. The eighth joint is a little expanded at the tip; and the ninth is fusiform, with a shallow depression at the extremity. All the joints have a few long hairs, and on the eighth is one a good deal stronger than the others. The legs have the tibiæ twice as long as the tarsus; the claw is slender, and has no tooth on the inner edge. There are only two digitules (the lower pair), which are long and fine. The trochanter bears one short bristle. The whole leg is slender and long. The eyes are tubercular and smooth, showing after maceration in potash a small dark terminal spot. The body is covered with a number of spinnerets of two kinds: those with simple concentric circles are the largest, and are found all over the integument; the others are multilocular, and are placed in groups at the edges of the segments and also in great numbers at the cephalic and abdominal extremities. Interspersed with these spinnerets are several hairs, mostly very short, but on the head are some pretty long. From the anal tubercles spring two strong setæ with tubercular bases, not very long. The mentum is dimerous, and bears a few hairs on the tip. In the groups of spinnerets at the edges of the segments are found a few small conical spines. The four spiracles are small and simple.