THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the C. A. 8 



Compiled by A. M. & J. FERGUSON. 

 No. 1,] JANUARY, 1909. [Vol. IV. 



A TEA PEST: THE LANTANA BUG. 



We invite the careful attention of all our 

 planting readers to the letter of Mr. Henry 

 A. Beachcroft, Chairman of the Planters' 

 Association of Ceylon, announcing the develop- 

 ment of the Lantana bug's taste f orCeylon's staple 

 product, which appears on this page. It is not 

 impossible that the prevailing prolonged drought 

 may tosomeextent be responsible fortheappear- 

 ance of the bug at this time. Be this as it may 

 Mr. Bamber has promptly recommended means 

 of dealing with the unwelcome invader and 

 it is hardly necessary to impress upon planters 

 the importance of adopting these measures 

 wherever they see indications of the pest. 

 Orthezia insignis, the scientific appellation of 

 the Lantana bug, is declared by Mr. Harold 

 Mann, in "Tea Pests and Blights" to be "a 

 very troublous pest .... a dreadful 

 scourge and must be dealt with promptly 

 should it appear." "To the naked eye" he 

 adds "it looks like little particles of white 

 wax " In an important number of the Entomo- 

 logical series of the Memoirs of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in India on " The Coc- 

 cidse attacking the Tea Plant in India and 

 Ceylon" by Mr. E. E. Green, f.e.s.,f.z.s. and 

 Mr. Harold H. Mann, D.Sc, Mr. Green writes 

 as follows : — 



As regards tea in Ceylon, there have been 

 one or two scares from the sudden appear- 

 ance of Orthezia insignis on fields adjoining 

 lantana scrub. Tea so affected is certainly 

 warranted to cause alarm. This pest affects 

 the young shoots of the plant and is found 

 to be swarming even on the flush. It is fortu- 

 nately a conspicuous insect and cannot well 

 be overlooked. The several outbreaks that 

 have occurred have always received prompt 

 attention, pruning and burning being the treat- 

 ment adopted. At the same time the bound- 

 aries have been cut well back and fired. Such 



measures have invariably been successful in 

 checking the post and preventing its recurrence. 

 It appears that Orthezia does not readily 

 adopt a tea diet; but it is probable that if 

 left undisturbed on the tea, subsequent genera- 

 tions of the insect would soon accustom 

 themselves to the change of food plant. 



MR. BEACHCROFT'S LETTER. 



Kandy, Dec. 10th. 



Sir,— Mr. Kelway Bamber imforms me that 

 in a district lately visited by him tea is being 

 seriously attacked by Lantana bug which would 

 seem to have recently developed a taste for 

 our staple product. 



Mr. Bamber advises that repressive meas- 

 ures should be immediately taken by cutting 

 down all tea trees and all neighbouring Lan- 

 tana affected by the bug and carefully burn- 

 ing all cuttings. 



The matter will be brought before the 

 Committee meeting of the Planters' Associat- 

 ion to be held on January 8th next, but 

 meantime it is important to ascertain whether 

 other districts are affected and planters, who 

 have noticed any tea in their districts suffer- 

 ing from a similar cause, will, it is hoped, 

 at once give information to the Secretary of 

 the Planters' Association. — I am, Sir, yours 

 faithfully, 



HENRY A. BEACHCROFT, 

 Chairman, Planters' Association of Ceylon. 



A LANTANA PREVENTIVE, 



Central Province, Dec. 12th. 

 Dear Sir, — I note in your issue of yesterday 

 that the Chairman of the Planters' Association 

 and Mr. Kelway Bamber sound the note of 

 alarm re Orthezia insignis or the Lantana Bug, 

 attacking our tea bushes virulently. I believe 

 the appearance of this bug on our coffee trees 

 weakened by attacks of leaf disease was noted 



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