516 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 10 



SO respected by the pickers that they refuse to enter areas in which the 

 " albayarde " is estabhshed. 



Minor Pests 



Two scales are common on coffee: Saissetia hemispherica Targ. and 

 Howardia hiclavis Corns. The former is the more common. Para- 

 sitic fungi hold the scales in check, especially in the case of S. hemi- 

 spherica which is heavily parasitized by Cephalosporium lecanii Zim. 



Complaints have been received from some localities of a Cossid 

 larva which bores in the main trunk or larger branches of the coffee 

 tree, usually in the upper third. The adult moth has been tentatively 

 determined as Psychonoctua jamaicensis Schs. by Dr. H. G. Dyar, who 

 states that it may prove to be a distinct species. The presence of the 

 borer is easily detected by a knotty formation in the old wood. This 

 insect is most often found in old coffee at altitudes up to 1,500 feet. 

 Pruning and burning invaded wood is usually recommended. There 

 has never been a severe outbreak of this pest, to the writer's knowledge; 

 only a few scattering trees at most are attacked. 



Another borer occuring in coffee trees is Apate francisca Fab. This 

 beetle has a wide variety of host plants in which it makes its longi- 

 tudinal tunnels for the purpose of egg-laying. The larvae can develop 

 only in dead wood for they cannot survive the sap flow of living trees. 

 A living coffee tree may have as many as thirteen adults working in 

 its trunk, and still survive, unless broken over by wind. The adults 

 can be killed with a piece of stiff wire. 



The spittle insect, Epicranion championi Fowl., is fairly common; 

 spittle masses around a berry-cluster often contain as many as six 

 nymphs. Dr. Hooker noted an external Hymenopterous parasite in 

 one instance, but was unable to rear it to the adult stage. 



Ormenis pygma'a Fab. is common on the stems of coffee, and has in 

 addition a considerable range of other hosts. It has never been known 

 to injure coffee noticeably. The same statements will hold for the 

 Jassid, Tettigonia occatoria. 



A mealy-bug (provisionally determined as Pseudococcus longispinus 

 Targ. by Dr. Hooker) is sometimes abundant in the berry clusters, 

 concealing itself between the berries. 



During the spring an aphid, Toxoptera aurantii Boyer (determined 

 by Dr. Edith M. Patch) is extremely abundant on new sprouts of 

 coffee, which it occasionally damages severely. Other hosts of this 

 insect in Porto Rico are orange (which is commonly allowed to grow 

 in a half -wild state amid the coffee) and ''geo," an undetermined tree. 

 Dr. Hooker bred an undetermined Chalcid from this insect. For two 

 years the writer has witnessed almost complete control of the aphid 



