Symptoms of damage:

• Central leaves stunted, deformed and suppressed
• Shedding of buttons

Identification of the pest:

• Nymph: thick yellowish-orange
• Adult: females range between 0.059 and 0.98 inches (1.5 and 2.5 mm) long, are oval in shape and reddish-brown to orange in color, covered by a yellowish-orange thick wax and with 10 to 12 pairs of marginal pyramid-shaped wax filaments. The dorsal surface of the body contains five to eight waxy filaments similar to the ones present on the side or lateral areas of the body.

 Management:

• Remove leaflets harbouring these insects and destroy them
• Spray any one of the following
  • Malathion 50 EC 2 ml/lit
  • Dimethoate 30 EC 1 ml/lit
  • Methyl demeton 25 EC 1 ml/lit
  • Phosphamidon 40 SL 1.25 ml/lit
  • Neem oil 30ml/lit.