12 
Since the discovery of the Florida species, Stigmaeiis flori- 
daniis, two other species of mites have been found commonly 
on pineapples, one a species of Tarsonemus, probably the 2\ 
anasae, described by Tryon, in Queensland, Australia, and men- 
tioned as injurious there ; the other a species of Tyroglyphiis, a 
fungus-eating acarid, a congener of which is also mentioned by 
Tryon in reporting on the mite-infestation of Queensland pine- 
apple plants. 
While I am referring to these incidental infestations, I may 
also speak of several other insects which occasionally do slight 
damage to the plant. My attention has repeatedly been called 
to a leaf injury which I have traced to a very common grass- 
hopper here. The injury is so inconsequential, however, that it 
is hardly worth mentioning. I have also recently seen an injury 
to the hearts of slips and suckers caused by the larvae of a very 
common ground beetle. And as an instance of how conster- 
nating and baleful the undesired presence of a mere scavenger 
can be, I need only recall the experience of previous packing 
seasons, particiilarly the last, with the fruit beetle. Undoubtedly 
this insect will yield to the measures which are generally used 
for the suppression of all filth feeders or scavengers, namely, the 
elimination of the rotting material in which they develop. And 
this topic leads me naturally to my last consideration, the accu- 
mulation of insect Hfe under certain favorable conditions. 
As one passes through a pineapple section it is impossible not 
to notice the sharp contract between newly planted and old 
rattoon fields. I wish to impress on you that a closer inspection 
reveals a contrast just as vivid in the state of the insect popula- 
tion at the beginning and end of the crop. From a meager 
source, the infestation grows larger and larger, and by the time 
it becomes necessary to replant on account of the diminution in 
size of the fruit and overgrown condition of the field, the insect 
colonies are beginning to have an efifect on the growth of the 
plant. They have accumulated to such an extent that further 
accumulation would mean its death. Little attention is paid to 
the matter, however, because the fields are about to be aban- 
doned. I believe these fields have furnished most of the insect 
troubles of the past year, and represent a condition which chal- 
lenges the grower's ability to maintain a low level of insect life 
throughout the fields. I am not urging the elimination of the 
third or any other rattoon crop, but I do think if the troubles of 
the past year are to be avoided in the future, corrective measures 
should be taken and their application apply to the crop throughout 
its growth, so that the cumulation of which I have spoken could 
not occur. 
