There is one Coccid of which it must be said that, whilst kerosene mixtures will undoubtedly destroy it, by far the best remedy of all is to destroy and burn at once the infested trees. _Icerya purchasi_ is so voracious and universal a feeder, so repulsive in its aspect, and so destructive in its effects that the most drastic remedy is the best. Any one, therefore, having a tree, especially an ornamental or a fruit tree, attacked by _Icerya purchasi_, is strongly recommended to make no delay, but to cut down and burn every stick of the tree as soon as possible. It was observed at the beginning of this chapter that some people hold the opinion that the damage done by scale-insects is not of importance. The foregoing remarks upon remedies are not directed to those who hold this view, which is contradicted by the experience not only of other countries but of New Zealand itself. _Authorities referred to in this Chapter._ U.S. Department of Agriculture-- Reports by Professor Riley, Professor Comstock, Mr. Hubbard, Mr. L. O. Howard. N.Z. Parliamentary Papers, 1885-- Report of the Select Joint Committee of both Houses on the Codlin-moth, and "various blights to which fruits are subject." Personal experiment by the author and friends. Replies of farmers, gardeners, and tree-growers to inquiries, official or private. CHAPTER VI. CATALOGUE OF INSECTS AND DIAGNOSIS OF SPECIES. Family.--COCCIDIDÆ. Male and female larvæ similar, apterous, naked or covered, active. Females in all stages apterous; metamorphosis semi-complete; naked or covered; active or stationary; rostrum usually present in all stages, sometimes absent in adult; feet sometimes absent after larval stage; tarsi where present monomerous; feet, where present, ending in a single claw; eyes sometimes absent. Male pupæ apterous; naked or covered. Adult males with two wings and two halteres; metamorphosis complete; rostrum present in larva and pupa, always absent in adult; tarsi monomerous; feet ending in a single claw; abdomen terminating in a spike which forms the sheath of the penis; eyes present in adult; ocelli often large, sometimes exceeding three in number. The above characters sufficiently distinguish this family from the rest of the Homoptera. Probably the first marks for identification of a specimen might be the monomerous tarsus and the single claw. The latter is always to be made out, at least in the earlier stages of the female and in the adult male. GROUPS. Larvæ active, naked; adult females and pupæ stationary, covered with separate shields or puparia, composed partly of secretion, partly of the earlier discarded pellicles; females apodous after larval stage; abdomen of females not exhibiting a median cleft or dorsal lobes Diaspidinæ.