4. The presence of two or more eyes or ocular tubercles, in addition to the ordinary pair of eyes, in the full-grown males ([Plate I.], Fig. 14; [Plate VIII.], Fig. 1, k, m).
I. The Female Insect.
In general outward appearance the female insects present very variable forms. They may be either naked, or covered over with some kind of a shield, which may be fibrous, or waxy, or cottony, or they may have simply a thin powdery meal scattered over them. The covered insects are, of course, stationary, although in some cases, before reaching their full development, they move about, carrying their houses with them. The naked insects may be either stationary or active.
They attach themselves either to the bark or stem of a plant or to the leaves. In the latter case it is rare to find them on the upper side; but, on turning over a leaf, the under-surface is frequently found covered thickly with them.
In many cases they exude, in the form of minute globules, a whitish, thick, gummy secretion, answering probably to the "honeydew" of the Aphididæ. This secretion drops from them on to the plant, and from it grows a black fungus, which soon gives an unsightly appearance to the plant. This fungus or "smut" is an almost invariable indication that a plant is attacked by insects,[C] and may, indeed, give a useful warning to tree-growers. It is not, however, produced in appreciable quantities by all species.
[C] Not necessarily a Coccid insect: the fungus may also grow on the honeydew of Aphis; but it is easy to recognize the difference between these insects. In every case there is some insect at work where the fungus is.
The manner of feeding upon the plant is the same as in all the families of Homoptera—namely, by means of a protruding rostrum, beak, or trunk, situated on the under-side of the insect. As there is not, in the female Coccididæ, any well-defined division between the head and the rest of the body, this rostrum is seen, on turning over the insect, in the form, usually, of a minute conical projection between, or nearly between, the first pair of legs, if the legs are present, or a little within the circumference, if the legs are absent ([Plate I.], Fig. 5). An ordinary lens will generally show, springing from the point of the conical rostrum, three or four longish, very fine, curling bristles. These bristles are, in fact, hollow tubes, and the insect, inserting them into the leaf or bark of the plant, sucks through them its food. It is thus plain that, with often great numbers of scale-insects sucking at it—pumping, as it were, its life-blood through their rostra—a plant must of necessity suffer greatly.
Birds do not, as a rule, seem to care much about eating the Coccididæ, whose work is thus little interfered with by them. The "white-eye" (Zosterops) or "blight-bird" has been seen feeding on scale-insects; but its visits are few and far between, and its assistance to the gardener in this respect not great. The Coccididæ are, however, much subject to attacks from Hymenopterous parasites, of which some account will be found in a subsequent chapter ([Chap. IV.]).
The effects of the Coccididæ are not confined altogether to damage to plants: there are some species producing materials useful to man. For example, Coccus cacti produces cochineal; Carteria lacca produces shellac; Ericerus pé-la is used by the Chinese for candles: and others might be mentioned. But, so far, no New Zealand species appears to be of any commercial use. Dactylopius alpinus makes a rather rich red dye in alcohol; Cælostoma zealandicum constructs thick, waxy coverings, which might possibly be turned to some account; but even these are probably not worth much.
Groups.