Insect Pests of Fruit, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic Crops (2+1)

3. Mealy bug - Pseudococcus longispinus Targ. (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera)

Damage

• It infests the tender unopened fronds, which fail to grow resulting stunted, deformed and suppressed.
  
• It also infests the inflorescence and nuts causing button shedding.
  
• The mealy bug colonies remain inside the perianth and suck the sap leading to the drying of nuts.
  
• When the nuts are completely dried the bugs are distributed by ants to the newly formed inflorescence.
  
• In bearing trees the damage is caused both to the spindle leaf and to the buttons.
Bionomics

• It is a tiny insect covered with white mealy coating.
  
• The mealy bug is attended by several species of ants, which feeds on the honey dew secretions of the bugs.
Management

• Spread open two or three leaf axils surrounding the spindle leaf.
• Clean the crown of all the dried bunches to prevent the spread of the-bugs to the newly formed bunches.
• Spray quinalphos or dimethoate or Dimethoate at 0.03 % covering the spindle leaf, leaf axis and young bunches.