Mealy Bug: Pseudococcus longispinus

Symptoms of Damage:

• Mealy bugs colonize on all tender plant parts like bases of spear leaf, spadix and inflorescence and beneath the perianth of the nut.
• Mealy bugs infest the unopened heartleaf and inflorescence. It feed plant sap. Leaves are yellowing and dry up.
• As a result, the leaves become highly stunted, suppressed, deformed and present a crinkled appearance.
• It is often confused with the leaf rot symptoms.
• The affected inflorescences are malformed and do not open. Even if they open, they do not bear nuts.
• Button mealy bugs colonize under the perianth lobes of tender nuts. Infested nuts harbouring gravid mealy bugs remain on the spadix, which serve as inoculum for further spread.

Colony of Mealbyug	Stunted leaves	Crinkeld leaves

Identification of the Pest:

• Nymph: Nymphs are flat, oval and yellow. Older nymphs of some species are covered with fluffy, white wax.
  
• Adult: The males are yellowish in color whereas the females are longer and narrow and white in color.

Management:

Cultural Method:

• Remove leaflets harbouring these insects and destroy them.

Chemical Method:

• Spray any one of the following;
  • Malathion 50 EC @ 2 ml/lt
    
  • Dimethoate 30 EC @1 ml/lt
    
  • Methyl demeton 25 EC @1 ml/lt
    
  • Phosphamidon 40 SL @1.25 ml/lt
    
  • Methomyl 25 EC @2 ml/lit
    
  • 3% Neem oil