ANIMAL PESTS 79 



and Cryptogams. The former are represented by such 

 well-known types as dodder (Gtiscuta spp.) and Loranthus 

 leptohbus, which is nearly related to mistletoe ; and the 

 latter by fungi. 



Animal Pests 



Man. — The injuries inadvertently caused to cocoa 

 trees by man, although perhaps seldom directly respons- 

 ible for the death of the tree, nevertheless often facilitate 

 the attacks of insects and parasitic fungi. Wounds 

 carelessly made on the stem and main branches during 

 cultural and pruning operations offer a convenient in- 

 fection spot for the spores of various species of wound 

 fungi, and such wounds are frequently selected by certain 

 beetles to lay their eggs, as affording the larvae which 

 hatch therefrom a ready means of entrance to the internal 

 tissues of the tree. Wounds made on the roots, in a 

 similar manner, render the tree more liable to infection 

 by the parasitic fungi which attack these organs. 



Deer occasionally feed on the young growths and 

 gnaw the bark from the stem of the cocoa tree, thus 

 lowering its vitality and preventing the proper circula- 

 tion of sap, and in addition, as mentioned above, affording 

 various insects and fungi an opening for attack. 



The only practical methods of checking the attacks of 

 these marauders would appear to be by shooting them, 

 or by erecting a suitable fence around the plantation. 



Monkeys, Squirrels, and Rats, — These three animals 

 frequently cause great losses to the cocoa planter by 

 their ravages upon the cocoa fruit. They are all ex- 

 tremely fond of the sweet mucilaginous pulp in which 

 cocoa beans are enveloped. They wantonly destroy 

 large numbers of fruits. After gnawing a hole in the 

 shell they extract a few beans and leave the remainder 

 to decay. The beans extracted are rarely eaten, but are 

 thrown down upon the ground, after the mucilaginous 

 envelope has been consumed. Such beans germinate 

 or decay unless collected shortly after they fall to the 

 ground, and even then they only yield an inferior product. 



When the attacked fruits are left upon the trees the 

 unprotected tissues afford excellent infection areas for 

 the various fungi diseases which affect cocoa fruits, as 



