138 THK DATE PALM, 



The insects are very minute and covered with a thin greyish 

 scale. Full-grown insects are more or less oval in outline ; usually 

 1 to lj mm. in length and approximately half, as much in 

 breadth. The body of the insect is seen through the covering 

 scale as a darker spot often with a pinkish border. The whole 

 thing is very flat and appears very closely adherent to the 

 plant. In that stage the insect appears incapable of moving 

 about. 



Specimens of these insects have been sent to Pusa for identi- 

 fication but information on the point is not yet to hand. 



Pending further information, we may remark here, however, 

 that the young of coccidse can generally walk actively and may go 

 for some distance in search of a fresh food plant, thus spreading 

 the disease. The female eventually settles down, buries a long 

 beak in the tissues, and sucks the plant juices. The male, 

 after passing through a period of rest, emerges as a very tiny 

 two-winged fly, searches for a female, mates and dies ; later the 

 female produces eggs and dies (see Indian Insect Pests by Lefroy, 

 page 243, and similar works). 



Old leaves become most affected, therefore the plants should 

 be kept properly pruned, and diseased leaves 



Remedial measures. 



thus removed should be burned. In some ot 

 the most attacked of our trees, we have pruned away practically 

 all the leaves except those in the opening central bud. The 

 remaining leaves are then easily treated with an insecticide. 

 This drastic pruning may retard the growth of the tree a little 

 but does not permanently harm it. Repeated spraying with 

 almost any insecticide has a harmful effect on the leaves. The 

 growth of the plant is therefore retarded even if the trees are 

 sprayed without being pruned, and a larger quantity of insecticide 

 is required. Where the attack is slight, however, only the old 

 leaves should be removed and an insecticide should be sprayed 

 on the plants. 



The insecticide which has given us the best results is that 

 recommended by Lefroy in Indian Insect Pests, page 284, No. 5. 



