An Account of the Insects Noxious to Agriculture and Plants in New Zealand: The Scale Insects (Coccididae)

"An Account of the Insects Noxious to Agriculture and Plants in New Zealand" by W. M. Maskell is a scientific publication written in the late 19th century. The work meticulously examines the scale-insects, a family of pests that can be particularly harmful to agricultural and ornamental plants in New Zealand. Through detailed observations and descriptions, the book aims to equip gardeners, farmers, and scholars with practical knowledge about these insects and their impact on local flora. The opening of the book introduces the structure and scope of the research, explaining the classification of insects, particularly focusing on the Hemiptera order to which scale-insects belong. Maskell outlines the necessity for this work due to the increasing prevalence and damage caused by these pests in New Zealand, noting the lack of accessible and comprehensive information on them. He emphasizes the importance of this knowledge for gardeners and tree-growers by providing key characteristics, life-history, and potential impacts of these scale-insects, laying a foundation for further discussion of their remedies and management in subsequent chapters.