NATURAL CONTROL OF CITRUS .MEALYBUG IX FLORIDA. 
11 
The earliest seasonal record of the appearance of the fungus is 
June 13. 1921. when it was found at Winter Haven. While not abun- 
dant on this date there was considerable evidence to show that it 
had been present for some time previously. As the graph (Fig. 1) 
indicates, it became increasingly prevalent week by week up to 
August S. when the last examination was made. At this date so widely 
scattered were the live mealybugs that a collection of representative 
specimens was made with difficulty. 
Mealybugs of citrus in Florida are more prevalent upon grape- 
fruit than upon orange. (See Fig. 2.) On such trees their favorite 
feeding location seems to be upon the fruit itself, or upon the fruit 
pedicels, where they form more or less well-defined colonies. At 
times they occur along the under side of large branches or limbs of 
LX4TE COLLECTED JUME/3 
JI/AE22 
JUNE 29 
JULY 6 
JULY /4 
JL/LV 22 
AUG 8 
TOTAL A/O COLLECTED 406 
524 
475 
350 
368 
260 
295 
DEAD Efi>OM D/SEASE 
AT DATE OE COLLECT/OW // 
28 
76 
67 
69 
94 
/02 
TOTAL DEAD E6>OM 
D/SEASE 7 DAVS /lETE? 
DATE OE COLLECT/ OH 46 
/06 
3/8 
289 
3/2 
226 
273 
\ /oo 
r 
<m 60 
C^ 50 
k 4ff 
/O 
o 
^ 
1 
Fig. 1. — Data on collections of citrus mealybugs infected with Entomophthora fumosa. 
the tree, although it is not known whether they are feeding or not. 
Mealybugs which frequent such situations are usually those which 
are ovipositing or about to oviposit. In most instances such insects 
are enveloped in a mass of wax, the excretion of which precedes or 
accompanies oviposition. Such a habit favors the spread of the 
mealybug, because the young crawlers hatching from the eggs will 
settle, in most instances, upon fresh fruit or twigs some distance 
away from the spot where the adults found their food. It is not to 
be inferred that mature females do not also lay eggs upon the fruit. 
but rather that young feeding individuals are not usually found upon 
the large branches. The habit of colonization, therefore, together 
with the white, grayish, or pinkish color of the healthy insects, ren- 
ders their detection a simple matter. 
The grove at Winter Haven was regarded as heavily infested. It 
was estimated on June 13 that 75 per cent of the trees were sup- 
porting five or more large colonies of the mealybug, that '20 per 
