CHAPTER XII 



KNKMIKS 



Chinese writers very rarely refer to inject enemies and di- 

 seases of the lychee. Their category of enemies consists of negli- 

 gent husbandmen, frost and snow, unfavorable winds, salt water, bats 

 and one insect which anyone who has seen the lychee crop in China 

 will at once recognize, by sight and smell, as a very conspicuous 

 Chinese relative of our numerous so-called "stink bugs." With the 

 exception of tobacco stems soaked in water, which they use freely on 

 many crops, the Chinese know very little about insecticides; of the 

 use of fungicides they know practically nothing. Their belief in a 

 "hand to hand" warfare is encouraged by cheap labor and they use 

 some ingenious methods (fig. 41). 



A Highly Decorated Pentalomidac Tcssaratoma papillosa 



The most common insect attacking the lychee is this species 

 known among the Chinese farmers as Ch'ou p'itan (Ch'au p'i tan 

 ^KjO- The insect is highly destructive and Chinese farmers suffer 

 greatly from its ravages. In the illustration (fig. 42) adults and young 

 are represented life size. The eggs are laid in rows on the under surface 

 of the leaves as shown in the illustration. The backs of the insects are 

 decorated with bands, stripes and margins of red and yellow making 

 them very difficult to distinguish on the highly colored fruit. Mr. C. 

 W. Howard of the Canton Christian College reports that the nymphs 

 require about two months to mature and that there seems to be a 

 great difference in the life histories of individuals. He says, "A few 

 may mature in 4-6 weeks and others 8 weeks. Few eggs are seen 

 after June but eggs and nymphs are sometimes found even in late sum- 

 mer. There seems to be only one generation each year although closer 

 study may change our ideas on this." The Chinese recognize that 

 unless these insects are kept under control they do great damage to 

 the crop. A brown discoloration of the skin and a rotting of the 

 flesh seems to take place at the spot where these insects rest on the 

 fruit. The common theory of the Chinese is that the urine excreted 

 by these insects causes this discoloration and decay; and the disagree- 

 able odor has given it its Chinese name. The noxious odor of these 



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