-574- 
INSSCT CONDITIONS IN PORTO RICO DURING AUGUST,. 1931 
M'. D. Leonard 
Insular Experiment Station, Rio Piedras, Porto Hico 
The yellow cane aphid, Sipha . f lava Forbes, was observed- doing con- 
siderable damage in a number of large sugarcane plantings of young to 
fairly large erne near both Aguirre end Santa Isabel on August 22. Mr. 
Foss, Assistant Field Manager of the Aguirre Sugar Co., stated on that 
date that during all of July and August there had been a rather .general, 
though fairly light, infestation throughout nearly all of the company's 
extensive plantings, in spite of the fact that the rainfall had been 
greatly in excess of normal. 
A leafhpp-oer, Protaleora brasiliensis De Long, known to be a minor 
pest of sugar cane , continued to be common in all stages throughout t. 
month on many patches of Bid-ens pilosa at El Morro in San Juan. 
.ie 
Adults of the scarabeicl beetle Dy seine tus bjarbatus Fab., an occa- 
sional minor enemy of sugarcane, were observed in small numbers at lights 
at Hato Hey on August 31. (M.D.L. ) At Isabel a adults were not observed 
at lights throughout the month and hod not been seen at lights since 
June B. (G.N. Wolcott. ) 
Scattering male adults of Phyl 1 onhaga vandinei Smyth were collected 
on sugarcane on August 11 and 12 at Isabela bu.t even by the end of the 
month they were not common there. (G. IT. W. ) 
The attacks of the cotton leaf worm, Alabama argil lace a Hbn. , 
naturally abated throughout the North Coast during the month, due largely 
to the fact that most of the cotton plants were old and no longer succu- 
lent. . According to F. E. Rorko of the San Juan Ginnery Co. at least 80 
to 85 per cent of the crop ha.d been picked by the end of the month. 
Around Manati, however, the insect was active until at least the middle 
of August and apparently in several other localities there was a certain 
amount of feeding. 
The pink boll worm, p ectinouhora gossyoiclla Se.und. , was generally 
infesting the whole North Co art cotton growing section during the month, 
according to F. 3. Rorke, the infestation being worst, however, in the 
vicinity of Arecibo, Hatillo, in parts of Camuy, and in Aguadilla. The 
infestation in a number of fields in these places ran as high as 100 
per cent. At Maleza, near Aguadilla., a fair sized patch ras examined on 
August 4th which showed 100 per cent of the bolls infested after only one 
picking; a single boll picked at random showed 7 exit holes. At Isabela 
the infestation was somewhat lighter. It is estimated that there has been 
about 50 per cent loss of the crop this seas.on in the entire North Coast 
region, due to excessive rainfall, the pink boll worm and the cotton leaf 
worm. It is difficult to say how much of this is directly chargeable to 
