INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETABLE CROPS IN PORTO RICO. 6 



page 84 of Bulletin No. 44 of the Division of Entomology, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, as having been sent from Porto 

 Rico by Mr. Barrett, with the statement that it damaged the leaves 

 of beans, cowpeas, and other plants. 



Mr. Barrett also mentioned Empoasca mali LeB., the currant leaf- 

 hopper, in his 1903 report, above referred to (p. 448). as the " severest 

 insect enemy of beans and cowpeas." 



The writer has found Empoasca mali causing acute injury to 

 garden beans, the leaves being badly curled and distorted. 



Aphidid^e. 



Though several species of aphides, or plant lice, attack vegetables, 

 the well-known "melon aphis," Aphis gossypii Glov., is apparently 

 the only one specifically recorded from the island. Mr. Barrett men- 

 tioned it in 1905/ and in 1906 Mr. Henricksen, 2 in discussing the 

 cultivation of watermelons, stated that it " often infests the undersides 

 of the leaves." 



Aphis gossypii has been observed in abundance on cucumber, while 

 other aphides have been found attacking corn, okra, and mustard. 

 In his report for 1903 (p. 447) Mr. Barrett also stated that "a black 

 aphid was found on a plant purchased as Alocasia marshallii, but 

 believed to be a Xanthosoma" (yautia), and that "the malanga 

 (Colocasia antiguorum esculentum) is occasionally attacked by an aphid 

 which is usually parasitized by a whitish fungus and a hymenopter." 



In the article in Bulletin No. 44 of the Division of Entomology the 

 statement is made, on page 84, that, according to Mr. Barrett, an 

 unknown species of Aphis seriously affects squashes. 



Mr. Henricksen has mentioned, in the previously cited bulletin on 

 vegetable growing (p. 38), an "eggplant aphis, a small light gray, mealy 

 looking insect," which " appears on the underside of the leaves." 



Aphis gossypii and other aphides found on okra are attacked by 

 an internal parasite, perhaps Aphidius testaceipes Cress. A fungus, 

 Acrostalagmus albus Preuss, attacks various species, and at least five 

 species of ladybird beetles which feed upon aphides are present in 

 Porto Rico. These are: Gycloneda sanguinea L., Megilla innotata 

 Vauls., Scymnus roseicollis Muls., Scymnus loewii Muls., and Hyper- 

 aspris apicalis Muls. Syrphid flies are also common. 



Aleyrodes sp. 



Mr. Tower 3 in 1908 stated that "a white fly (Aleyrodes sp.) ap- 

 peared in great numbers on the peppers and tomatoes" at the experi- 

 ment station at Mayaguez, P. R. He further mentions that " there 



i Barrett, O. W. Report of . . . entomologist and botanist. In Porto Rico Agr. Expt. Sta. for 1904 

 [U. S. D. A. Office Expt. Stas. Rpt. 1904], p. 396, 1905. 



2 Henricksen, H. C Vegetable growing in Porto Rico. Porto Rico Agr. Expt. Sta. Bui. 7, p. 58, 1906. 



3 Tower, W. V. Report of the Entomologist and Plant Pathologist. Porto Rico Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. 

 Rpt. for 1907, p. 36. 



