easily distinguishable in the
under surface of her corpulent body; but at no period of her existence
has she wings. It is about the time of her obtaining full size that
impregnation takes place[1]; after which the scale becomes somewhat more
conical, assumes a darker colour, and at length is permanently fixed to
the surface of the plant, by means of a cottony substance interposed
between it and the vegetable cuticle to which it adheres. The scale,
when full grown, exactly resembles in miniature the hat of a Cornish
miner[2], there being a narrow rim at the base, which gives increased
surface of attachment. It is about 1/8 inch in diameter, by about 1/12
deep, and it appears perfectly smooth to the naked eye; but it is in
reality studded over with a multitude of very minute warts, giving it a
dotted appearance. Except the margin, which is ciliated, it is entirely
destitute of hairs. The number of eggs contained in one of the scales is
enormous, amounting in a single one to 691. The eggs are of an oblong
shape, of a pale flesh colour, and perfectly smooth.[3] In some of the
scales, the eggs when laid on the field of the microscope resemble those
masses of life sometimes seen in decayed cheese.[4] A few small
yellowish maggots are sometimes found with them, and these are the
larvae[5] of insects, the eggs of which have been deposited in the female
while the scale was soft. They escape when mature by cutting a small
round hole in the dorsum of the scale.

[Footnote 1: REAUMUR has described the singular manner in which this
occurs. _Mem._ tom. iv.]

[Footnote 2: Fig. 8.]

[Footnote 3: Fig. 9.]

[Footnote 4: Figs. 10, 11.]

[Footnote 5: Of the parasitic Chalcididiae, many genera of which are well
known to deposit their eggs in the soft Coccus, viz.: Encystus,
Coccophagus, Pteromalus, Mesosela, Agonioneurus; besides Aphidius, a
minutely sized genus of Ichneumonidae. Most, if not all, of these genera
are Singhalese.]

[Illustration: THE COFFEE BUG. Lecanium Coffeae.]

It is not till after this pest has been on an estate for two or three
years that it shows itself to an alarming extent. During the first year
a few only of the ripe scales are seen scattered over the bushes,
generally on the younger shoots; but that year's crop does not suffer
much, and the appearance of the tree is little altered.

The second year, however, brings a change for the worse; if the young
shoots and the underside of the leaves he now examin