FALL NUMBER Si 
The stork has recently visited the homes of two of our mem- 
bers, Mr. Geo. Merrill and Mr. W. W. Yothers. Both girls. 
Mr. P. W. Fattig is now teaching biology in the State Normal 
School at Farmville, Va. 
MEALYBUGS 
By JEFF CHAFIN 
Mealybugs are one of the most widely distributed group of 
insects known; they occur in practically every country in the 
world and attack nearly every cultivated and wild plant. If it 
were not for the fact that they have a large number of natural 
enemies they would no doubt do serious damage to many of our 
most valuable crops. They seem to thrive best and do the most 
damage in tropical and subtropical climates. We probably have 
forty or fifty different species in this State, but of that number 
there are only three or four that do very much damage. How- 
ever, many of the most injurious species have not been intro- 
duced into Florida. 
One species that we do not have does serious damage to 
sugar cane in Cuba. California has two species that do consider- 
able damage: Baker’s mealybug which attacks the grape, and the 
citrophilus mealybug which prefers citrus. They have made 
several unsuccessful efforts to control and eradicate these pests. 
These two species are probably the most injurious mealybugs 
in the United States and neither of them is present in Florida 
at the present time. There are no doubt many other species 
in the United States, as well as in the tropical countries, that 
would do serious damage if brought to this State. 
The mealybug that does the most damage in Florida at the 
present time is the Common Citrus Mealybug (Pseudococcus 
citri) which is a serious pest in our ornamental nurseries and 
greenhouses and sometimes becomes very numerous in citrus 
groves during dry seasons. During the dry spell last summer 
they did more damage than usual all over the citrus belt. This 
particular species is present all over the United States but it 
seems to do the most damage here. We do not hear of it causing 
any damage in California, so either their climatic conditions are 
unfavorable for it or they have some natural enemy that we do 
not have. 
The next of importance is the Cocoanut Mealybug (P. nipae) 
which is always present on trees and ornamentals in the south- 
ern part of this State. During the dry spell last summer the 
