44 THE SUGAR-CANE INSECTS OF HAWATI. 
sugar cane. In Louisiana the mealy-bug infests, aside from sugar 
cane, the Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) and the saccharine 
sorghums.. ; 
LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. 
The feeding habits of the mealy-bug are similar to those of the 
cane leafhopper; that is, ther mouthparts are formed for piercing — 
the epidermis of the plant and sucking the plant sap from the inner 
tissues. _ The distinction m the feeding habit is that the leafhopper 
is active throughout its entire life cycle, and jumps or flies from 
plant to plant, while the mealy-bug when partly grown remains 
practically stationary and feeds upon but one portion of the same 
plant. 
Where the cane mealy-bugs occur in Hawaii, they can be found 
about the lower leaves of the cane, congregating for the most part 
behind the older leaves near the ground. The species may be recog- 
nized by the white mealylike covering of the adult female, to which 
the common name applies. The insects occur in a mass and when 
abundant are readily observable by the white covering of the females. 
This white covering serves as a receptacle for the eggs, which, upon 
close examination, may be observed embedded therein. 
In Louisiana the insects occur not only about the lower leaves of 
the plant, but are to be found also around the crown (Plate IV, fig. 1) 
and beneath the surface of the ground about the roots of the plant. 
In this latter location they hibernate during the cold months of 
winter on both cane and Johnson grass. 
The young mealy-bugs upon hatching from the eggs are quite 
active and disperse over the cane plants, finally congregating when 
partly grown about the lower nodes of the stalk. The females are 
practically inactive, remaining in a mass about one of the nodes or 
beneath the leaves throughout their development and secreting about 
themselves in these locations the characteristic white covering 
(Plate IV, fig. 3). The young males do not remain stationary on 
the plant, but, after completing their development, spin a narrow 
white cocoon (Plate IV, fig. 4) within which they transform to a 
delicate winged adult. 
CONTROL. 
Selection of seed cane.—Since the common method of distribution 
is by the transportation of infested seed cane from plantation to 
plantation or from one part to another of the same plantation, care 
should be exercised to select clean stalks and not those which are 
infested, for seed cane. 
Burning of the trash.—The practice of burning the trash after 
harvest is very effective in destroying this insect, smce those remain- 
