152 



tioiiing the Secretary of Agriculture to detail a plant patho- 

 logist for temporary service in Hawaii until the diseases af- 

 fecting principal crops here have been studied. It occurred 

 to me as a very good idea, knowing that the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture occasionally does send out specialists to States 

 and Territories in need of their advice and assistance. I merely 

 suggested that such a petition be sent through and indorsed 

 by the Board. 



GITEUS TREES AND THEIR TROUBLES IN KONA. 



Aside from the purple and other scales common on these 

 plants in this Territory, many of the trees in Kona seem to 

 suffer from the fungus disease known as "die back." In 

 course of this investigation it became clear to me that the 

 people of this Territory are sorely in need of a pamphlet on 

 the scale insects of citrus plants and the effective remedies 

 against them. Such a bulletin should be given immediate 

 consideration. So long as we have no effective enemies of 

 such pests as the purple scale {Lepidosapheo beckii, Newm.) 

 and the avocado pear scale {Pseudococcus nipae, Mask.) we 

 are compelled to urge artificial remedies to check them. 



HORN FLY PUPAE. 



(See page 130.) 



LANTANA SCALE OR MAUI BLIGHT. 



{Ortliezia insifjnis, Dougl.) 



On my way down to Kailua I observed this insect in several 

 places upon lantana. This indicates that the ranchmen disre- 

 gard entirely the warning of the entomologists of this office 

 against the distribution of this insect. So far it practically 

 confines its attention to lantana, although on Maui, as stated 

 elsewhere, it has been observed in injurious numbers on sev- 

 eral ornamental plants. How soon it will attack plants of 

 economic value it is impossible to tell, but in view of the char- 

 acter of the insect the attack seems a certainty. 



