LIBRARY

HEMIPTERA 349
The tamarisk manna scale, Trabutina mannipara (Ehrenberg) [Gossyparia
mannifera (Hardwick), Coccus manniparus Ehrenb., (Chermes)], is a notable
member of the family and famous in Biblical accounts because it produced the
"manna of the wilderness." This coccid feeds upon Tamarix mannifera and
C
FIG. 121. The Indian lac insect. Laccijer lacca (Kern). A. normal appearance of a colony of
lac on a living tree; B. stick lac; C, stick lac with section removed from twig to show incrusta·
tlOn of lac over and around the bodies of the insecta and the twig w)l.ich are obliterated from
vIew; D and E, different aspects of the female bodies removed from the lac. (D and E. after
Green.)
T. gallica in parts of Asia Minor and in Iraq. The females secrete quantities
of honeydew. In arid regions, this material accumulated, stratified with the
leaves of the host plant, and solidified throughout the ages to form the sweet
food called manna 1 or gift of God by the Israelites wandering in the Sinai
wilderness. The material is still collected and used for sugar by the Arabs in
the Sinai Mountains and by certain natives of Iraq. ,
Members of the genus Eriococcus are often completely or partially enclosed
in felt·like sacs.
tAccording to Weber (Bioi. dur Hemipt6'fen. Springer, Serlin, 1930) manpa is compoi\ed of
55 per cent cane sugar, 25 per cent invert sugar, and 19.3 per cent deJl:trin (Wigglesworth,
1939).