Male pupa covered with a waxy, elongated test as in the genus Ctenochiton, but there is no fringe and the segments of the test are not conspicuous; the test is oval and convex.
Adult male yellowish-grey, the head rounded, with an anterior protuberance. Two dorsal and two ventral eyes, and two ocelli. Antennæ of ten joints, all hairy. Feet exhibiting only two digitules, the upper pair. Abdominal spike short, with two longish setæ on each side, each pair of which are covered with cotton which is produced into a long white conspicuous cauda.
Habitat—On camellia. In the South, chiefly in greenhouses. In the Hutt Valley, Wellington, camellias in the open air are much subject to it.
The female of this species is not unlike Lecanium hesperidum, but the formation of the white ovisac is a clearly distinguishing character. In late summer the female often drops off to the ground, leaving only the ovisac observable on the leaf.
Subdivision III.—LECANO-COCCIDÆ, Maskell.
N.Z. Trans., Vol. XVI., 1883, p. 128.
Female insects covering themselves with a secretion of cottony or felted matter, forming more or less complete sacs. Male insects (where known) covered with similar secretion.
Secretion white, felted, formed of threads issuing from prominent spiny spinnerets; inconspicuous or absent on adult female, thicker on male pupa. Abdominal cleft and lobes present in all stages of female.[R]