156 



The minute eggs are laid on the under surface of the leaflets, 

 usually on the young leaves of the palm. Thus far it appears the 

 insect is attacking by preference only the young palms, that is, those 

 under 6 or 8 years of age, but unless checked it will probably soon 

 spread to all the palms in the vicinity. 



Soon after the eggs are hatched the young insect begins walking 

 about on the underside of the leaf in the endeavour to find a suitable 

 position for its attack, satisfying itself as to location, it inserts 

 its beak through the epidermis of the leaf and begins to suck the sap 

 from the soft inside tissue; after becoming thus attached, the young 

 insect seldom moves, unless disturbed, until it attains its full size. 

 Shortly before emerging as a winged insect it stops feeding, but 

 remains attached to the leaf. Though comparatively weak fliers, the 

 danger of their passing through the air from one tree to another is 

 greatly increased by the action of winds, since when the insect may 

 only wish to fly from one leaf to another, it may be accidently borne 

 by the wind to a considerable distance. 



Some of the colonies contain scarcely more than a dozen indi- 

 viduals, while others contain many thousands and form an irregular 

 white area over the underside of the leaf. This feature of their colour 

 is exceedingly valuable to the coconut planter, since it allows him to 

 readily determine the presence of a colony in his grove. 



Although a hymenopterous insect, evidently a parasite of this 

 coconut pest, was observed in the act of laying eggs in or upon the 

 immature White Flies, it is not likely that any natural parasites will 

 be of much avail in checking the spread of this pest. Therefore the 

 coconut planters in the infested district should immediately go 

 through their groves, cutting off and burning all attacked leaves, or 

 portion thereof, and by the same token, .it would be well for all 

 coconut planters to carefully look over their young groves, and if any 

 white insects are discovered, they should report the fact at once to 

 the Director of Agriculture and should remove and burn all traces of 

 the parasite. In certain cases it might be advisable to treat the pest 

 with kerosine emulsion, or some similar spray, but unless the grower 

 has had experience with such remedies, the use thereof would 

 probably be in vain, if not actually injurious to the tree itself. 

 Fumigation could be recommended only for extreme cases and then 

 only for young trees. 



If this pest is taken in hand immediately, there is very little 

 chance of its spreading to other districts of the Philippines ; and it is 

 earnestly hoped that coconut planters throughout the Visayas and 

 Tayabas will make a strenuous effort to prevent the spread of this 

 pest, which, although apparently new to these Islands may within a 

 few years become an exceedingly important factor in the coconut in- 

 dustry of the Far East. 



(By D. B. Mackie, in The Philippine Agricultural Review, 

 Vol. V. p. 142) 



