LOSSES FROM GREEN BUGS 6 



1882. Nietner does not give it in his List of the Enemies 

 of the Coffee Tree in Ceylon published in .1876. When 

 the pest first attracted attention in 1882, it had already 

 established itself in the Matabele District. Within four 

 years from that date, it had spread over practically the 

 whole of the planting areas in the Island. In 1889, Green 

 wrote, " the green scale has practically wiped out coffee 

 cultivation in many districts. The vigour and the 

 rapidity with which it is propagated has defied any 

 remedial measures that we could afford to apply and 

 consequently planters are everywhere turning their atten- 

 tion to the cultivation of tea in place of coffee."^ 



In the Coccidae of Ceylon, published in 1904, Green 

 gives a more correct estimate of the share the scale had 

 in the gradual abandonment of coffee cultivation. He 

 says, " unfortunately at the time of the invasion (by the 

 pest) our coffee had been weakened by long continued 

 attacks of leaf disease {Hemilela vastatrix). Moreover, 

 the prevailing system of cultivation resulted in the loss 

 of the surface soil so essential to the health of the coffee 

 plant in all but the most favoured situations. The fur- 

 ther tax on its strength induced by these myriads of sap- " 

 imbibing insects proved too great for the plant, with the 

 result that thousands of acres of coffee land were aban- 

 doned or replaced by tea. Some idea of the collapse of 

 the coffee industry may be obtained by comparing the 

 annual export of coffee during the period of attack. In 

 1881, 452,0C0 cwts., were shipped from Ceylon. In 1891 

 this figure had fallen to 88,780 cwts., while during the 

 past year, 1902, the total scarcely exceeded 10,000 cwts."''^ 



How the pest first appeared in Ceylon is not defi- 

 nitely known. Green believes that it was brought over 

 on Liberian coffee from East Africa. The only evidence 

 in support of this view, apart of course from the sudden- 

 ness of its appearance and the rapidity with which it 

 spread over the Island, is, apparently, the testimony of a 

 planter that it was found to thrive better on Liberian 

 coffee. The record of introduced species in their new 

 homes is certainly in favour of the supposition. The 

 introduction of the rabbit into Australia and of the fluted 

 scale {Icerya purchasi) into California are well-known 



'Green, Insect Life, March, 1889; cited from Indian Museum 

 Notes, Vol. 2, p. 113, 1891-93. 



' Green, Coccidse of Ceylon, Parts I to IV, 1906 to 1909, p. 199. 



