Art. II.—On the “Honeydew” of Coccidæ, and the Fungus accompanying these Insects. By W. M. Maskell, F.R.M.S. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 25th August, 1886.] Plate I. It has long been known that, in common with the Aphididœ, Psyllidœ, and other Rhynchota, the Coccidæ secrete a glutinous fluid, which has received the name of “honeydew.” In the other families mentioned, this fluid serves to attract and to feed various insects: thus, for example, Aphides are commonly visited by ants, which devour the honeydew, and even, it is said, go so far as to tickle the Aphides, in order to make them secrete additional fluid. Whether the secretion of Coccids may serve as food for other insects is not certain. I have never noticed anything tending to this idea: often, minute dipterous and hymenopterous insects may be seen amongst Coccids on leaves, but I incline to the belief that certainly the latter, and possibly the former, are seeking rather a place for depositing their eggs than a meal of honeydew. Hymenopterous insects are very often parasitic on Coccids: and out of a hundred pupæ of, say, Ctenochiton perforatus, as many as seventy-five may often be found with hymenopterous pupæ or larvæ inside them. Acarids of various kinds are also very numerous on leaves where Coccidæ are found; but, whilst it is quite possible that they may be attracted by the honeydew, this may not be the case, as Acarids are numerous and common on all plants, whether infested with Coccids or not. On the whole, I cannot affirm that the Coccid honeydew affords nutriment to any insects. I have never seen an ant amongst Coccids: but ants are not common in New Zealand, and this point is only negative, after all. Still, the fact remains that Coccidæ exude, like other Rhynchota, a glutinous fluid. This is well known, but I think that nobody as yet has described either the mode or the organ of the secretion. An observation lately made enables me to fill this lacuna, and the points noted are not without interest in the study of the family. It happened that I was lately examining some specimens of the second, or pupa, stage of the female of Ctenochiton elœocarpi, mihi.* “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” vol. xvii., 1884, p. 26. In one of these I noticed a sudden protrusion of an organ from between the