The Control of Insect Pests on the Avocado 
G. F. Moznette, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Miami, Florida 
The Avocado is not attacked by as 
many enemies as cause damage to cit¬ 
rus fruits which have been longer es¬ 
tablished within our borders, nevertheless 
there are a number of destructive enemies 
which cause concern to the Avocado 
grower, and which must be reckoned with 
in order to successfully produce healthy 
trees so that they may produce a satisfac¬ 
tory crop of fruit. It is generally admit¬ 
ted that practically every fruit which is 
propagated commercially has one or more 
enemies bent on its destruction. At times 
growers fail to think about these enemies 
until their trees and fruit are attacked 
by them, and then it is generally too late 
to repair the damage done. It is very im¬ 
portant for the grower who wishes to 
produce healthy trees in order that they 
may bear a satisfactory crop of fruit, to 
be ever on the lookout to detect insect in¬ 
festation; to know something about the 
various destructive pests which may at¬ 
tack his trees and the measures which he 
may employ in order to effectively control 
them. 
The purpose of this paper is to bring 
together briefly some information con¬ 
cerning some of the more destructive 
Avocado insects present in Florida, so 
that the grower may have some knowl¬ 
edge concerning them, and become better 
64 
acquainted with some of the insect trou¬ 
bles he may at times be confronted with. 
For the most part the insect pests caus¬ 
ing damage to the Avocado in Florida re¬ 
semble greatly in habit and general ap¬ 
pearance those which attack citrus fruits. 
Practically all of them are insects pro¬ 
vided with mouth parts fitted for sucking 
the juices from the plant tissues. Such 
pests as scale insects, white flies and 
mealy bugs found on citrus trees are also 
to be found on the Avocado. It is quite 
possible that some of the insect pests at 
present found attacking the Avocado in 
Florida have been brought in. Others 
may be insects which have always existed 
here on some native vegetation and have 
adapted themselves to the Avocado. 
Hence as groves are being established in 
different widely separated sections, we 
may possibly find at times different in¬ 
sect pests appearing which gradually es¬ 
tablish themselves on the Avocado. This 
condition is quite true of most newly in¬ 
troduced trees and plants. Then again, 
we may find sections in the State where 
the weather conditions prove more favor¬ 
able for the multiplication of certain 
pests which do not thrive where the 
weather conditions are more adverse. 
This condition is evidenced by certain 
pests which thrive in groves situated on 
