THE MANGO 131 



Another serious pest in India is the mango weevil (Sternoche- 

 tus mangiferce Fabricius, better known as Cryptorhynchus 

 mangiferce). It is not limited to India, but is found also in 

 the Straits Settlements, the Philippines, South Africa, and 

 Hawaii. In the last-named country it has become formidable. 

 "The insect is a short, thick-set weevil, dark brown in color, 

 one-third of an inch in length. . . . The grubs bore in the 

 kernels of the mango fruit when it is growing large; these 

 grubs pupate inside the fruit and as the mango ripens become 

 beetles, eating their way out through the pulp of the. fruit, 

 which they spoil." Maxwell-Lefroy recommends that all 

 infested fruits be destroyed, and that weevils hiding in the 

 bark of the tree be killed in August. Kerosene emulsion is 

 useful in destroying those which are on the bark. It is also 

 advisable to cultivate or flood the ground beneath the trees, 

 in order to kill weevils which may be lurking there. 



In Florida, red-spiders and thrips are responsible for exten- 

 sive injury to foliage, leading to disturbances of the general 

 health of the trees; but contact sprays, e.g., lime-sulfur or 

 nicotine, properly applied, will effect complete eradication. 



The mango bark-borer (Ploccsderus ruficornis Newman) is 

 a formidable enemy of the mango in the Philippines. This is 

 a large beetle. C. R. Jones 1 says of it : 



"The mango bark borer, while a comparatively unknown 

 pest outside the vicinity of Manila, is exceedingly dangerous, 

 largely on account of its feeding habits, which make detection 

 difficult. The beetle has, so far as we know, no natural enemies, 

 being fully protected both in the larval and pupal stages. 

 Physical remedies are, therefore, necessary, such as the removal 

 of larvae and pupae from their burrows by hand." 



The mango shoot psylla (Psylla dstellata Buckton) is re- 

 ported only from India. "It injures the terminal shoots by 

 producing imbricated pseudo-cones of a bright green or yellow 

 1 Philippine Bur. Agr. Circ. No. 20. 



