The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-11-22
KILLS LANTANA
AND OTHER THINGS
What the Blight May Do to
the Plants Worth
Keeping


Speaking of the lantana blight last
evening, D. L. Vandine, entomologist of
the United States Experiment Station,
said:
The lantana. blight at present in such
abundance on the Island of Maui and
occurring in lesser amounts in other
districts of the islands is small in
sect and not strictly a blight at all.
The term blight has come to be applied
only to plant disease caused by a
fungus growth which penetrates the
tissues of the plant and is never prop
erly applied to an insect pest. This in
sect belongs to the scale-insects which
together with the meaIy-bugs and a
| few other closely related insects form
a distinct family, Coccidae, of the order
| Hemiptera. The family Coccidae con-
tains many of the most serious pests
with which the horticulturist has to
contend.
| The lantana bug is known scfentifical-
| ly as Orthezia insignis. Like all other
members of this family it obtains it's
food by sucking the sap from the It's
very small insect. The female is
made conspicuous by a waxy secretion
over the body which is heightened out
| behind to form the egg-sac. The white
| IaD
trast to the dark body of the insect.
| The young emerge from this egg-sac
on Matching from the egg and scatter
over the plant to feed. The male in
sect in the adult state possesses wings
but on account of it's extremely small
size it is seldom observed. The ease
with which these scale insects and the
closely related forms are carried from
place to place either in the egg or adult
stage is accountable for their wide dis
tribution throughout the world.
| The lantana bug is hailed with de-
light as an enemy of the pest which
occupies such a vast area of the lands
| of these islands. Should the work of
this insect in connection with the newly
introduced enemies of the lantana prove
effectual in clearing the pasture lands
and tillable areas of the Territory of
this pest it would be indeed be a great
blessing.
| One question presents itself in con-
nection with the spread of this insect
and that is: Does the list of the food
plants of the insect include any of our
important beneficial plants? So far it
has confined itself to the lantana In
quiry relative to it's food plants brings
out the following in regard to this side
tropical since the first severe frost will
kill it. About New York and Boston
it is reported as a serious pest to indoor
plants and in the greenhouses. In such
places it has been easily overcome by
the use of insecticides. 1t is plain to
see how such could be the case on a
limited scale but where it is wide
spread the problem would become an
entirely different one.
The list of plants on which this in
sect has been found by experiment to
feed includes the following which are
grown in Hawaii: Verbena, to which
the native weed johi belongs. oxalis or
lsheep-sorrel, periwinkle, mint, the
jmorning-glory, and the following green
house plants: ageratum, cineraria,
lgeranium, iibonia, peristrophe, chrysan-
themum, fuchsia, heliotrope, white vio-
let, and forget-me-not. 1t has been
found to feed also on the potato and is
reported as infesting the citrus trees in
some tropical countries