30 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, 
that nowhere in the East is cofiee, “ king 
no\v-a-clays. 
Tlie practical “Notes” with a local hearing, sup- 
plied by Mr. theen on Mr. Koihele’s Report, are 
as follows : — 
NOTES UPON THE EEPORT OE THE 
ENTOMOLOGIST OF THE HAWAIIAN 
GOVERNMENT. 
1. Dactylopius caijcrus . — Not miconimou in Ceylon; 
usually in insufficient numbers to be serious. But 
I have quite recently noticed a really bad attack of 
this blight in Colombo, where the insect was to 
abundant on several ornan:tnta! shrubs that the plants 
were quite disfigured and parts of them actually killed, 
2. .DaclyJojiins adonidum. — Though it is doubtful 
if the spi cies has been rightly determined (I believe 
its correct name to be Dactyhjiins citri) ; this is the 
“ mealy-bug ” long known as a coffee pest in Ceylon. 
3. fulvtmria iisidii. — Very abundant in Ceylon. 
It has seemed to me to have considerably extended 
its range within the last few years. I first noticed 
the hprit to a-ufj ten years ago upon cinchona. I 
next fori2iV'iG'l'6stablished upon tea ; and I constaully 
find it now upon individual lea bushes whi'.h are 
completely blackened by ihe accompanying growth 
of luugus. Fortunately, it does not spread much 
upon tea. The species is almost constantly present 
upon guava ticco. Orange and lime trees are much 
subject to its atiacks. I could give a long list 
of ornamei.tal shrubs in the garden and wild plants 
and jungle trees upon which I have noticed the 
pest. At present some Aralia plants iu my garden 
are literally covered with the insects. In fact, ihe 
species is fast becoming omnivorous. Curiously enough 
the coffee plant, which is so badly affected by this pest 
in the Sandwich Islands, is one of the few Ueylou plants 
upon which I have not found the insect. 
4. Lecanimii acuminatum . — Under this name Mr. 
Koebele is referring to a largish triangular flat 
scale that is sometimes rather injuriously abundant 
upon -mango tree.s iu Ceylon. 
5. Asyidiotus aurantii . — Present iu Ceylon ; but not 
so far noticed in injurious numbers. Our climate 
appears to be too tropical for its comfort. As Mr. 
Ecebele ] oints out, the species flourishes better in 
more tei -perate latitudes. 
6. ^1 indiotus cydonice. — Commou cn many different 
plants, especially upon fruit trees of varit us sorts, 
where it seems to appreciate the fiuit itself. I have 
seen the rind of a pomelo fruit so .hickly encrusted 
with the scales that the natural surface was com- 
pletely obscured. 
V. Acijidioius camelliie. — A common and distinctly 
injurious pest upon tea and cinchona in Ceylon. 
a. I'arlatoria zizyphi, and B. pergandei — It is sur- 
prising that neither of these two species has yet been 
recorUed from Ceylon. They are both very common 
pests of orange trees and have been introduced into 
nrost countries where oranges are grown, being very 
easily imported upon the rirrd of the fruit. We probably 
owe our anmuuity to the fact that we rest oouteiit 
with the old original varieties that have been culti- 
vated here from the earliest times, without attempt- 
ing to improve the strain by the importation of plants 
or seed from other countries. 
9. 31ytylu^pis citiicola. — Common on orange trees 
in Ceylon. 
10. ffl. glooerii — Collected from orange trees in 
Kandy. 
11. M. pallida . — Common on several wild shrubs in 
Ceylon. T'ouud also occasionally upon guava trees. 
12. JL pomoiuiii. — The only living examples of this 
insect that I have seen in Ceylon were upon the 
rind of imported Tasmanian apples. In England the 
species has become almost omnivorous. The 
species does not appear to flourish iu the tropics. 
19. Cliionu'ipiti htclaois .' — This species is nearly 
always present often iu injurious numbers— upon 
the stems of cinchona and tea plants. It is a \eiy 
inconspicuous insect and escapes general observutiou 
from the fact that the colour and texture of the scale is 
wonderfully adapted to the surface upon whichjt rests. 
[July i, 
1897. 
14. G. eugcmce.— Some scale- insects found upeu 
Litzea zeylanica and teveral other jungle trees were 
determined by Mr. Maskell as varieties of his species 
t euqeniK. It is not a species that is likely to prove 
of economic importance. 
15. iJiaspis amygdali. — Very abundant on manv 
rees and in Ceylon. It is a common pest 
of geranium plants— (see ‘ Coccidse of Ceylon', part I 
P; lately noticed that it has established 
Itself upon stems of one of our common shade 
trees, the Dadap ’ (Erythrina sp.) 
16. Fiorinia cameUia: (= F. fiormiae).— This sp<=cips 
has been noticed upon tea iu Ceylon this ye 7r 
for the first time. It is a minute insect, and though 
present in considerable numbers, it does not .'=eem 
at present to have materially affected the heaUh of 
the plants. 
17. Ceroplaatcs I'lr&eiis.—Cccasiouallv present upon tea 
1«. G. iloridensis is also found (raiher conimoniv) 
upon tea and other plants; but does little or no haini. 
19. C. ccufcrus. Quite a large speoie.s, nu asurins 
sometimes nearly half-an-iiich in oiameter - com- 
mou upon many wild plants; and occasional! v m,. sent 
upon tea stems. The insect produces such' masses 
of waxy matter that experimtnts have been mad" 
to test Its economic value. The wax was found 'o 
contain too much water to make good candles (they 
spluttered uncomfortably when burning); but this 
defect could doubTess be rectified by proper treatment 
20. Lecanium coj^em —Cnee our principal coffee pest 
IS now quite in the background, having been ousted 
by the more dominant species L. viride. It has 
transferred its attentions to tea and is sometimes 
found m force upon individual trees, generally such as 
are under the shelter of some overhanging rock, 
21. L. longulum.—A. decided pest of some of oar most 
valuable shade trees. I have found it upon the ‘sau’ 
tree (albizzia) and very commonly upon grevilleas 
often in such numbers as to stunt the plant. 
22. L. nigrum.— Another quondam coffee pest, now 
seldom found upon that plant, but occurring abund- 
antly upon many wild trees and shrubs, and also upon 
several garden plants, more particularly upon begonias. 
26. h. tessellatum. — A widely spread species in Cev- 
abundant upon the fronds of 
the liitwl palm (caryota urens). I noticed it in 
the Pa m House at Kew Gardens upon the same palm 
and found several of the gardeners engaged in picking 
off and destroying the scales. “ 
24. Triococcus a rancartue.— S^ hen I was at the Hak- 
gala Gardens some few years ago, several ‘ Norfolk 
Island Pines ’ (araucaria excelsa) were badly infested 
by this species. The presence of the pest was notioe- 
able at some distance by the unsightly black fungus 
that followed the attacx. The trees were greatly 
disfigured, and I believe ultimately seriously iriiurecl 
2o. Ilhi?,ohius ventraliti.—Ot the ‘ iady-bird ” beetles* 
Uns IS the species that seems most promising It 
feeds principally upon that particular gioup of scale 
insects known as the LecaniidcB^ of whicli our Ltc 
viride is a prominent member. This bug being a 
soft-bodied insect it is particularly open to attack 
irom lady-bird beetles. 
J *kat several of our indigenous 
‘ lad. -birds are retiring before the advance of a 
very pertinaceons little ant {Cremastogacter dohrni). 
This insect is particularly fond of the sweet excre 
tion from the bugs aud frequents the buc'-y trees 
As they distinctly encourage the bug, they naturali7 
discourage any interference from predaceous insects 
aud that the discouragement can be most effective’ 
cau be readily proved by disturbing one of theii’ 
nesis. The oooupauts swarm out upon the intruder 
and give him a very unpleasant recentiou. Tiiese 
ants build large nests that have the 'a.ppearaace of 
being composed of masticated brown paper. 
26. The Japanese beellc,— or rather its laiva— is 
evidently allied to tho insert formerly known in Gev-lnn 
as ‘‘White Grub.” Mr. Koebele was most fei timate 
m hnding such an eifioacious remedy as the funaoid 
disease described on page b;J of this Report. 
E. E. GREEN, 
rundaluoya, April ’97. 
