I'KOCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ExXTOMOLOGlCAL MEETING 411) 



The pest has also been reported from Bassein Fort (7th April 1902) 

 Baroda {hid. Mus. Notes, Vol. IV, Part 3, p. 143, 1899) and Ankleshwar 

 (District Broach, C4ujarat, 29th Augnst 1906) from the Bombay Presi- 

 dency. The Agricultural Inspector, South Arcot, Madras Presidency, 

 {Ind. Mus. Notes, Vol. V, Part 2, p. 44, 1900) reported that in conse- 

 quence of the presence of the pest the crop looked pale and stunted in 

 growth and that the cultivators were aware of the damage done by the 

 pest since the last ten years. The editor of a local paper in Baroda wrote 

 in 1906 that the pest had damaged nearly 50 per cent, of the crop tha;t 

 year in the Baroda territory. Early in September 1914 specimens of 

 the mealy- wing in almost all the instars were collected by the Imperial 

 Entomologist at Pyinmana, Tatkon and Myitkyina, Burma, and an 

 examination of the infested leaves showed that the nymphs of the third 

 and the fourth instars as well as puparia were especially abundant on 

 the lower surface of leaves collected at Pyinmana and Tatkon, and 

 that some of the leaves were heavily encrusted with the black fungoid 

 growth following the honey-dew exuded by the mealy-wings. On most 

 of the leaves the nymphs of the fourth instar as well as the puparia 

 had collected together towards the apices in very large number and 

 it was no wonder that the plants under such heavy infestation should 

 , have been pale and sickly in appearance. 



In the beginning of December 1915, 1 examined the sugarcane growing 

 on the Tharsa Farm, Central Provinces, and found some of the varieties 

 of sugarcane infested heavily. Nymphs of the second and the third 

 instars together with the puparia were present in numbers on the lower 

 surface of leaves, and the lower leaves were thick with the black fungus. 

 The variety of cane most affected was Sennabelli of Madras. (Plate 

 72.) On the leaves of this variety the pujjaria were found affected 

 with a fungus and the specimens were sent for examination to 

 Dr. E. J. Butler, the Imperial Mycologist, who wrote : — 



" Mr. Misra collected on 2nd December 1915 at Tharsa Farm, Central 

 Provinces, a fungus parasitic on the sugarcane mealy-w^ng, 

 Aleyrodes barodensis, Mask., which he asked me to identify. 

 It was an Aschersonia, which I submitted to Mr. Petch, 

 Government Mycologist, Ceylon, who has been engaged on 

 a special study of the genus and had seen all the Indian 

 materials available. Mr. Petch now identifies the fungus as 

 Aschersonia ])lace7ita, B. and Br. This species has not been 

 previously recorded on a sugarcane pest but is reiativeiy 

 common in India on species of Aleyrodidse on Citrus, Morus 

 and other plants. An ally has been extensively used in 

 Florida and elsewhere against the white-fly of Cirrus.'' 



