A Preliminary Report On A Grass-Root Mealybug (Ripersia Radicicola Morrison) Affecting Sugar Cane in Cuba1

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Abstract
A typical root-feeding mealybug (Ripersia Radicicola Morrison) is found well distributed over the Island of Cuba on the roots of grasses and sugar cane. The mealybug is probably a native species which inhabits the roots of grasses and has adapted itself to sugar cane. “Grass-root mealybug” is suggested as the common name for this insect in preference to “sugar cane root mealybug,” inasmuch as wild grasses are the primary host plants. The area of injury does not coincide with the area of distribution. Serious injury occurs in soils subject to drought where the mealybug appears to be only one of several factors unfavorable to the growth of the plant. The use of legume cover crops in areas where the grass-root mealybug is a serious pest, to improve the soil and suppress the grass hosts, is under consideration.

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