fcANB MEAtY WING. 



135 



The insect sncks out the juice of the leaves and cane, thus weakening 

 the plant ; the principal effect of its presence in large numbers is that 

 the juice of such canes makes bad sugar. 



The pest can be checked only by collecting the eggs regularly and 

 systematically till the numbers of the insect are reduced. This is easier 

 on young canes but usually necessary on maturing canes. 



No other method is so simple and the use of insecticides for this pest 

 is impossible. 



Cane Mealy Wing. 1 



A disease of cane well known to cultivators, takes the form of 

 small, oval, scale-like bodies attached firmly to the leaf ; each is black 

 in the centre, with a white fringe, about one-twentieth of an inch long, 

 never moving about on the leaf. This is the immature form of the Cane 

 Mealy "Wing ; it cannot be mistaken and is usually found in large 

 numbers. 



These scale-like bodies are the developing insects, correspond- 

 ing to the half 

 grown larvae and 

 pupae of a moth. 

 If the life history 

 is traced from the 

 beginning we find 

 orange-colo ured 

 eggs, very small, 

 laid singly on the 

 leaf a number close 

 together. The larvae 

 that hatch are small 

 flattened insects, 

 having tiny legs 

 and antennae, which 

 walk a short dis- 

 tance on the leaf. As each finds a suitable place it inserts its 

 fine beak into the leaf and fixes itself down. At the first moult 

 it assumes the scale-like form and remains motionless ; its food is 

 obtained by suction from the leaf and the insect has no further need of 

 legs or antennae. 



1 Coc. 39. Almrtdes barcdensis. Mask. (Aleurodidec.) 



FIG. 154 



Eggs and Scales of the Cane Mealy Wing. 

 (Magnified ticelve times.) 



