156 
The minute eggs are laid on the under surface o,f the leaflets, 
usually on the young leaves of the palm. Thus far it appears the 
insect is attacking by preference only the young palms, that is, those 
under 6 or 8 years of age, but unless checked it will probably soon 
spread to all the palms in the vicinity. 
Soon after the eggs are hatched the young insect begins walking 
about on the underside of the leaf in the endeavour to find a suitable 
position for its attack, satisfying itself as to location, it inserts 
its beak through the epidermis of the leaf and begins to suck the sap 
from the soft inside tissue; after becoming thus attached, the young 
insect seldom moves, unless disturbed; until it attains its full size. 
Shortly before emerging as a winged insect it stops feeding, but 
remains attached to the leaf. Though comparatively vyeak fliers, the 
danger of their passing through the air from one tree to another is 
greatly increased by the action of winds, since when the insect may 
only wish to fly from one leaf to another, it may be accidently borne 
by the wind to a considerable distance. 
Some of the colonies contain scarcely more than a dozen indi- 
viduals, while others contain many thousands and form an irregular 
white area over the underside of the leaf. This feature of their colour 
is exceedingly valuable to the coconut planter, since it allows him to 
readily determine the presence of a colony in his grove. 
Although a hymenopterous insect, evidently a parasite of this 
■coconut pest, was observed in the act of laying eggs in or upon the 
immature White Flies, it is not likely that any natural parasites will 
be of much avail in checking the spread of this pest. Therefore the 
■coconut planters in the infested district should immediately go 
through their groves, cutting off and burning all attacked leaves, or 
portion thereof, and by the same token, it would be well for all 
coconut planters to carefully look over their young groves, and if any 
white insects are discovered, they should report the fact at once to 
the Director of Agriculture and should remove and burn all traces of 
the parasite. In certain cases it might be advisable to treat the pest 
with kerosine emulsion, or some similar spray, but unless the grower 
has had experience with such remedies, the use thereof would 
probably be in vain, if not actually injurious to the tree itself. 
Fumigation could be recommended only for extreme cases and then 
only for young trees. 
If this pest is taken in hand immediately, there is very little 
chance of its spreading to other districts of the Philippines ; and it is 
earnestly hoped that coconut planters throughout the Visayas and 
Tayabas will make a strenuous effort to prevent the spread of this 
pest, which, although apparently new to these Islands may within a 
few years become an exceedingly important factor in the coconut in- 
dustry of the Far East. 
(By D. B. Mackie, in The Philippine Agricultural Review , 
Vol. V. p. 142) ....... 
