12 Farmers’ Bulletin 1257. 
feeding. The pupa stage was found to require on an average from 
three to seven days for development. 
The adult.—The adult (fig. 5, 7) can be separated from others asso- 
ciated with it by the body characters, black with dark wings, by the 
reddish band which is evident in the first three segments of the 
abdomen, and by the red color of the anal segment. The adult female 
is about one twenty-fourth of an inch long and quite stout. The 
adults feed gregariously with the pupe and larve, all in close prox- 
imity to one another, and in many cases rest alongside the midrib or 
lateral veins of the leaf. The adults select the tender foliage to feed 
upon, and there the female deposits eggs in the leaf. In Florida the 
life cycle is influenced greatly by the temperature conditions. Dur- 
ing the late summer and fall the life cycle requires approximately 
25 days as a minimum, and during the months of January and Feb- 
ruary 35 days are required. In Florida this insect may pass through 
from 10 to 12 generations during the year. Rain is one of the con- 
trolling factors in the abundance of the thrips at any time. 
CONTROL. 
Spraying with 40 per cent nicotine sulphate at the rate of 1 part to 
900 parts of water has been found the most efficient means of control 
ling the red-banded thrips. The addition of 2 or 3 pounds of fish-oil 
soap to the diluted mixture will cause the spray to spread more evenly 
over the smooth mango foliage and not drop off in small globules. 
Where the red spider is present on the foliage at the same time as the 
thrips the nicotine sulphate may be added to lime-sulphur spray, the 
nicotine being used at the strength indicated above. In this case no 
soap should be added. The spray should be directed particularly 
against the lower surface of the leaves, as the thrips will usually be 
working there. The spray should be applied before the foliage com- 
mences to turn brown, when indication of the presence of the thrips 
is first detected on the green foliage. 
THE MANGO SHIELD SCALE. 
A number of scale insects attack the mango in Florida, and the one 
noted to be most injurious up to the present time is the mango shield 
scale* (fig. 6). This scale is quite widely distributed and is found 
wherever the mango is growing. It has been taken at Fort Myers, 
Punta Gorda, Palm Beach, Miami, Miami Beach, Biscayne Key, 
Larkins, and Homestead. The species has been reported from British 
Guiana and from the following islands of the West Indies: Grenada, 
Barbados, Dominica, Antigua, Trinidad, and Jamaica. 
4Coccus acuminatus Sign. 
