13 



trees suffered far worse than any other host plant and a large percentage 

 were killed, this being no doubt due in no small measure to the fact 

 that many of the trees were old and considerably enfeebled by the 

 ravages of a longicorn beetle Xystrocem globosa Oliv. The dead 

 trees and many,, whose health was precarious were replaced by trees 

 not susceptible to the attack of P. perrwcioms Newst. , and since then 

 the attack has got less and less until now it is only a minor pest. 

 Recently it has been completely overshadowed by the ravages of 

 another mealy bug, Phenacoccus hirsutus Green. 



Owing to the fact that Pseudococcus perniciosus Newst. and 

 Phenacoccus hirsutus Green often occur together on the same host 

 plant and are frequently confused it may be as well here to mention 

 one or two characters by which they can readily be distinguished. 



Pseudococcus perniciosus Newst. 



Adult female dark green, almost 

 black. 



Ovisac round, almost globular. 



Fibres of ovisac capable of stret- 

 ching out into long viscous 

 elastic threads. 



Arrangement of ovisacs on a tree 

 tending to some sort of appa- 

 rent regularity. 



Phenacoccus hirsutus Green. 

 Adult female reddish. 



Ovisac elongated. 

 Fibres of ovisac not capable of 

 stretching appreciably. 



Arrangement .of ovisacs on a tree 

 in irregular masses. 



13. Pseudococcus sacchari Ckll. (THE SUGAR CANE MEALY BUG). 



BIBLIOGRAPHY : Ckll., Jn. Trin. Nat. Club, ii, p. 195 (1895). 



The adult female is large, elongated, ovate, decidedly plump, 

 delicate pink in colour ; it is only very sparsely mealy and the seg- 

 mentation is distinct. It is ovoviviparous and gives rise to a very 

 loose mass of white fibrous secretion and much " honey dew." The 

 young female is not very active unless disturbed. 



Length 6-10 millimetres. Breadth 3-5 millimetres. 



HOST PLANTS. 



Graminese Sacchamm sp. (Sugar Cane). 



PART OF PLANT ATTACKED. 



Between the leaf sheath and parent cane. 



REMARKS. 



This species of Mealy Bug gave rise to a very serious outbreak 

 in the big sugar growing areas in Upper Egypt early in 1921. The 



