73 



harm to the plant. No treatment can be given plants in the 

 Held. Care should be taken not to plant infested canes. 



THE GREY SUGAR-CANE MEALY-BUG (PseudoCOCCllS 

 saccharic Ckll.). Hemiptera. 



This is a moderately large insect, covered with mealy 

 wax, and not easily distinguished from the pink mealy-bug. 

 The grey colour, longer legs, and the less rounded body are 

 the distinguishing characters. No treatment in the field 

 is possible, but the grey mealy-bug does not often occur 

 in sufficient abundance to become a serious pest. Care 

 should be taken not to plant infested canes. 



THE GRASSHOPPER (Schistocerca pollens, Thunb.). 



Orthoptera. 



Sugar-canes are sometimes injured by attacks of grass- 

 hoppers (Fig. 80) which eat the leaves, especially of the 

 young canes. In St. Kitts, grasshoppers are more of a pest 

 to sugar-cane than in the other islands. These insects may 



Fig-. 80. Grasshopper. 

 Slightly enlarged. {Original.) 



be controlled by use of a poisoned bait, and their numbers 

 may be greatly reduced by collecting by hand. The latter 

 method has been employed with good results in St. Kitts. 

 The smaller birds, and turkeys and fowls, feed readily on 

 grasshoppers, and probably the wild birds exert a consider- 

 able influence over the abundance of the insects, and on 

 estates where they are particularly common it would 

 probably pay to keep large flocks of turkeys and fowls. 



