﻿271 
  

  

  A 
  FROGHOPPER 
  DAMAGING 
  CACAO 
  IN 
  PANAMA. 
  

  

  By 
  C. 
  B. 
  Williams, 
  M.A., 
  F.E.S. 
  

  

  (Plate 
  XL) 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  a 
  search 
  for 
  parasites 
  of 
  Cercopidae 
  in 
  Central 
  America, 
  made 
  

   on 
  behalf 
  of 
  the 
  Government 
  of 
  Trinidad 
  in 
  1916 
  and 
  1917, 
  I 
  came 
  across 
  a 
  froghopper 
  

   of 
  the 
  genus 
  Clastoptera 
  destroying 
  the 
  flowers 
  of 
  cacao 
  in 
  various 
  localities 
  in 
  Panama 
  

   and 
  just 
  over 
  the 
  border 
  in 
  Costa 
  Rica. 
  

  

  In 
  view 
  of 
  its 
  possible 
  importance 
  in 
  a 
  country 
  where 
  cacao 
  planting 
  is 
  being 
  

   taken 
  up 
  to 
  an 
  increasing 
  extent, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  danger 
  of 
  its 
  spreading 
  into 
  other 
  cacao- 
  

   growing 
  countries, 
  some 
  notes 
  were 
  made 
  on 
  it 
  which 
  are 
  given 
  below. 
  

  

  Apart 
  from 
  its 
  economic 
  importance, 
  it 
  was 
  of 
  considerable 
  interest 
  also 
  from 
  the 
  

   fact 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  froth 
  surrounding 
  the 
  nymphs 
  I 
  found 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  larvae 
  of 
  a 
  

   Drosophilid 
  fly. 
  At 
  the 
  time 
  I 
  came 
  to 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  this 
  was 
  an 
  inquiline 
  and 
  

   not 
  injurious 
  to 
  the 
  nymphs, 
  so 
  that 
  little 
  further 
  attention 
  was 
  paid 
  to 
  it 
  ; 
  but 
  

   observations 
  made 
  later 
  on 
  Drosophila 
  paradoxa, 
  Lamb, 
  which 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  froth 
  

   of 
  Clastoptera 
  taeniata, 
  Schmidt, 
  in 
  Trinidad, 
  and 
  which 
  undoubtedly 
  kills 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   nymphs, 
  have 
  made 
  me 
  regret 
  that 
  I 
  dismissed 
  the 
  possibility 
  so 
  lightly. 
  

  

  Fig. 
  I. 
  Clastoptera 
  theobromae, 
  Williams, 
  sp. 
  n. 
  

  

  The 
  froghopper 
  is 
  very 
  conspicuous 
  from 
  the 
  masses 
  of 
  semi-liquid 
  froth 
  that 
  it 
  

   makes 
  on 
  the 
  flower-stalks 
  of 
  the 
  cacao 
  (Plate 
  xi). 
  Each 
  of 
  these 
  froth-masses 
  contains 
  

   from 
  one 
  to 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  nymphs, 
  which 
  suck 
  the 
  flower-stalk 
  and 
  cause 
  its 
  death. 
  

   On 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  occasions 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  froth 
  on 
  the 
  stalk 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  pod 
  or 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  

   young 
  shoots 
  growing 
  from 
  the 
  main 
  branches, 
  but 
  none 
  was 
  ever 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  

   leaf-petioles 
  or 
  near 
  the 
  growing-point 
  at 
  the 
  tips 
  of 
  the 
  branches. 
  The 
  great 
  

   majority 
  of 
  nymphs 
  were 
  on 
  the 
  flower-stalks, 
  and 
  these 
  flowers 
  invariably 
  withered 
  

   up 
  and 
  died. 
  

  

  The 
  cacao 
  tree 
  is 
  remarkable 
  in 
  that 
  it 
  usually 
  produces 
  a 
  large 
  excess 
  of 
  flowers, 
  

   most 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  shed, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  even 
  50 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  flowers 
  might 
  have 
  

  

  (8053) 
  t 
  

  

  