io 



damage has been done, but this has only occurred in a few isolated 

 instances. 



Incidentally it is almost impossible to spray against the Hibiscus 

 Mealy Bug with a full measure of success. A paraffin emulsion is 

 quite efficacious, but there is no spray or pump devised that will 

 penetrate into the gnarled shoots and kill the insects and eggs within. 

 Spraying is only of any value when accompanied by pruning, and 

 with the infection as general as it is in Cairo this is not of great value 

 for as soon as the young and tender shoots are put forth they become 

 infected from neighbouring infection and the last state of tha.t tree 

 is worst than the first. Gradual replacement of the worst host plants 

 is, I am convinced, the only way to control this pest successfully in 

 a town such as Cairo. 



NOTE. Since the above was written infection has been found 

 in the Faiyum, and as certain other towns in Upper Egypt are infected 

 the legislation has been extended to the Provinces of Giza, Beni Suef, 

 and Faiyum. An attempt is now being made to control the pest 

 in these three provinces, and the transport of fruit and plants from 

 the infected areas is being strictly regulated. 



9. Pollinia pollini Costa. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY : Targ., Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital, i, p. 264 (1869). 



The adult female is yellowish brown and globose : it is completely 

 enclosed in a mass of white secretionary matter which is firmly adherent 

 to the plant tissues. The insect itself lies free within this secretionary 

 matter which is generally more nearly black than white. These 

 masses are rarely isolated and generally a number are found together 

 forming an excoriated blackish excrescence resembling a black gummy 

 exudation from the plant. The surface of this excrescence is hard, 

 and on breaking it away a colony of the insects is found within. 



Lengths 1-1-5 millimetres. 



HOST PLANTS. 



Oleacese Olea sp. (Olive). 



PART OF PLANT ATTACKED. 



The young twigs and stems, particular preference being shown 

 for the axils of the leaves and the junction of small twigs or branches. 



REMARKS. 



This species has been collected in Cairo and Upper Egypt only 

 so far : it is widely distributed in Upper Egypt. 



