274 SPICES 



CHAP. 



A destructive Coccus has also been seen in Borneo, 

 as well as in the Straits Settlements, attacking the 

 fruit spikes as the fruit commences to set. 



The insects are soft-bodied stout creatures covered 

 with the white fluff so characteristic of this group of 

 blight. When they attack the spike it speedily becomes 

 black and withers up, and is often completely destroyed. 



The Coccids also frequently attack the leaves on the 

 underside, the stem and other parts of the plant. 



The presence of Coccids on a plant in any abundance 

 always must be taken to suggest that the plant is weak 

 and in poor health, though this is not always the case. 

 It is advisable to manure the plants if much affected, 

 but at the same time steps must be taken to get rid of 

 the pest. As a rule the ordinary insecticides fail with 

 these animals, as they are too well protected by the 

 white fluff which is of a waxy nature, and protects 

 the insect from the action of any ordinary liquid. I 

 have had some success in dealing with this class of 

 pests by using a solution of phenyl, mixed with water, 

 so as to have the appearance of rather poor milk. The 

 phenyl dissolves the wax, and then acting on the skin 

 of the insect destroys it. All the carbolic disinfectants 

 must be used in a well diluted state, as they are other- 

 wise apt to injure the plant, but many of them, if weak 

 enough, will prove very effective against the waxy Cocci. 



Mr. Hewitt observes in Borneo that the Cocci are 

 commonly attended by a small ant (Crematogaster 

 Rogenhoferi), which feeds on the sugary excretions of 

 the blight, and probably conveys the coccus from plant 

 to plant, as ants constantly do in other cases. The 

 presence of ants in quantities running over a plant in 

 cultivation is often a sign to the watchful planter that 

 blight has appeared on the vine. 



Mytilaspis. Scale Insects. Attacks by these are 

 reported by Mr. Barber as injuring the pepper vines in 

 India. They are probably common elsewhere, as scale 

 insects are extremely abundant in the tropics. He 

 describes the attack as follows : 



