segmentation of the adbomen is apparent. Marginal filaments are 

 wanting. It is ovo-viviparous and gives rise to a little very loose 

 white fibrous secretionary matter and much " honey dew." The 

 female is only active normally in its young stages, but it retains the 

 power of locomotion throughout life. 



Length of adult female 6 to 10 millimetres. Breadth 3 to 5 milli- 

 metres. The male does occur in small numbers, but is not of any 

 economic importance and may be disregarded. 



The adult female produces living young parthenogenetically, i.e. 

 without the intervention of the male. The fact that there is IJG ovisac 

 or external eggstage is one of considerable importance in connection 

 with the control of the pest. 



The position favoured by the insects on the cane is that imme- 

 diately below the node where they are sheltered by the close adherence 

 of the leaf sheath arising from the node below. Any tendency towards 

 movement is always directed to a higher node where more tender 

 growth is to be found ; the young females shortly after birth migrate 

 to the next node or to some higher node where they settle down to 

 feed and normally complete their life-cycle without a further change of 

 position. Migration to the most tender growth near the growing 

 point is prohibited by the extremely close adherence of the leaf sheaths 

 beneath which the insects are unable to penetrate and find shelter. 

 The only insects ever found at a place other tnan immediately below 

 the node are those young females migrating to a more congenial 

 feeding place in which to complete their life-cycle. 



NATURE OF DAMAGE. 



The insects feed by inserting a long sucking tube into the host- 

 plant and withdrawing the plant juices. The result of thousands 

 of these insects at work is the production of gum on the outer surface 

 of the cane. This sticky secretion is formed partly by the exudations 

 (honey dew) which are invariably associated with large colonies of any 

 mealy bug and partly by the exudations from the cane, a defensive 

 measure induced by the wounds caused by the insertion of the long 

 sucking tubes. This gummy mixture tends to move downwards so 

 that in heavily infected canes all the internodal surface of the cane 

 becomes coated and it collects just above the node where it is held in 

 place by the leaf sheath arising from that node. I may point out 

 here that this gumming makes it very difficult to strip the canes of 

 their leaf sheaths and, as the " 105 " variety is normally more difficult 

 to strip than the " Baladi," cultivators are obliged to employ more 

 labour for this operation. 



