The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-09-10
A PEST MORE
DANGEROUS
Lantana Blight is
Worse Than
Plant, III. 90. 4.
Honolulu, Angus, .. 1891.

Honolulu, August =. 1891.
Mr.. wray Taylor, Commissioner of Agri-
culture and Forestry.
Sir:-I herewith submit notes on the
Lantana scale. Orthesla Insignis, Doug
las, affecting those plants on the Island
Of Maui.
PAST HISTORY.
Mr. r.. e. Green, the present Govern
ment chronological OF Ceylon, gives us
the first record of the habit of this insect
IN Tropical Agricultural, Jan, 1895"
i have In .my possession reprint of this
paper entitled. IAN Important Insect
Enemy and the Need for Planters to
Guard Against Its Spread, quote from
his paper the following. ''HH = 81
I'm DIR. Trmen's Annual Report on tie
Botanical Gardens for 1896 mention was
made OF the occurrence In the Peradcn,ya
Gardens OF q serious insect-pest which
was most destructive to the ornamental
shrubs there. AS this pest has been In
creasing very rapidly and has already
spread beyond tho limits OF the Gardens.
It is important that general 4; o ttention
should be drawn 70 It.
within the Peradeniys Gardens ef-
forts are being made to keep It In
check: but Il has appeared OF. fantans In
ing where II will stop. at has foft innate
ly as yet ehown mo- taste" for ieltliet of
our two most importapt e ptoducts--tea
and cacao. Coffee, however, does not
share this immunity, for. trees of Ltberi-
an coffee have been Observed to be in
tested with the insect. and We have no
reason to suppose that the Arabian spe
Giles will be less liable to attack.
DIR. Trimen Is Of opinion that this is
lu1xy cvor Ian, snSASf n nd eN
pect that 1t will spread to estates II is
to be hoped that this prediction will
prove correct: but It would be unwise to
ignore the fact that, II unchecked, the
pest might spread enormously AND might
possibly develop a taste for other plants;
as was the case with the 'Flutei Scale
Qcerya purchasD. which at first prae-
tically confined TO acacia ana orange
trees. finally became almost omniyorous.
"Forewarned Is forearmed;" and. though
It would be most imprudent to create
scare II Is still most advisable to point
out possible danger.
LAS mentioned above, the insect has
obtained foothold upon lantana.
Should It become widely and firmly es-
tablished. II will be extremely difficult to
deal with, and wherever iantana -four,
ishes there will be stronghold Of the
pest Though most accommodating In
It's tastes. this bug at present shows =
preference for plants belonging to the
natural orders Acanthaceae. .Rubiaceae
(which includes coffee and cinchona). and
verbenaceae (of which iantana Is mem.
ber). To the hrst Of these orders belong
our numerous species "Nelu" CStrobilan-
thes), which might form another possi-
BILE breeding-ground as extensive and
even more impregnable than the lantan,
scrub" ,,s. ....
As q remedy TO eradicate the pest Mr..
Green has thisI to say: -..s,. ...'
Determined efforts should be made TO
stamp out the pest upon It's first appear
ance in any locality. Infected plants
should be treated on the spot. regardless
OF expense and. II necessary, with com
plete sacrifice of the plant. Too great
stress cannot be laid upon the lmpor-
tance of Treatment upon the spot In
all cases of serious insect pests. The
pruning OF affected plants and subsequent
carriage of the cuttings to some spot
where they might be burnt or buried
would only serve to SOW the pest broad.
cast along the route of transport. How
ever much q fixture the adult insect may
seem to be- as In the case of many OF
the scalebugs. II must be remembered
that the young are very minute, very &C
tive, and usually very numerous.
SHOULD a colony Of the insects be dis
covered upon any plant, a good-sized
hole might be dug beside II. In which q
IRE Of dry brentwood and grass could
be lighted. The plant should then be
cut down OF. pruned to bare. poles, the
prunings. thrown directly onto the fire
and all dead leaves and rubbish from be.
Vow the plant swept into the hole. The
hole should afterwards be filled with
earth TO prevent the escape OF any pos
able survivors
In places where the pest has establish
I'd itself on lahtana or other waste land
such patches should be fred
"On cultivated land such extreme meas
ures will usually DO tmpracttcablei, i-iIr
this case repeated and thorough spray
ing with insecticides, will be, the onl,
available course. For the purpose kero-
sene-soap emulsion would probably b
the most effective and economical. Il
should be very carefully and thoroughly
applied. and should be repeated at shor
Intervals until the pest has been exter
minated. Where practicable It would b
advisable TO first prune the trees Cburn
ing and 6urytng tho prunings as sug
gested above). and then to spray the re
naming stems and branches.
''The formula for kerosene emulsion is
Kerosene NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. gallons
Common soap .........................h Id
Water .."...................... I gauor
bihoobvC tho Doup III WdtCN hSuteu "
boiling. Add the kerosene to. the no
mixture. and churn till It forms a thicl
cream on cooling. Dilute with from nin'
10 twelve times water for application
As far as known to me- the insect "
Still present In Ceylon and also In India
and It will always be a troublesome pes
sntil the proper natural enemy can b,
found.
In an article on 1.-The Eradication o.
Iantana Scandens." in the Indian For
ester, Vol. XVII. No. /, PIP, %. 80. tn,
writer mentions In addition. Cinchona
belonging to the Rubiaceae; the ket
Pepper and Tomato OF the large order o
Solanaceae. The article Is of interes
and we give II herewith:
The other enemy IS. fortunately. no
yet very well known In India.
This enemy IL a scale-bug. Orthezii
Insignis. originally discovered at Kew
where It was causing damage In tn,
plant-houscs 1t was noticed In Ceyloi
IN 1896 or thereabouts, and was suppos