Suresh, S., & Chandra Kavitha, P. 2008 Seasonal incidence of economically important coccid pests in Tamil Nadu.. Proceedings of the XI International Symposium on Scale Insect Studies, Oeiras, Portugal, 24-27 September 2007. ISA Press Lisbon, Portugal 322 pp.

Notes: Abstract: Scale insects (Coccoidea) are amongst the most destructive pests of horticultural crops in India. More than six hundred species have been recorded to-date. A survey, conducted in 2006- 2007, found that five species (Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, Coccidohystrix insolita (Green) and Rastrococcus iceryoides (Green) (Pseudococcidae), Cerococcus indicus (Maskell) (Cerococcidae) and Saissetia coffeae (Walker) (Coccidae)) were the most frequent scale insect pests on parthenium, cotton, hibiscus and crotons in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Our survey showed that the mealybugs were most abundant during May, the cerococcid population was present between October and February, while S. coffeae was present throughout the year but most abundant in February and March. Studies correlating the seasonal incidence of each species with weather factors found that, for mealybugs, abundance was negatively correlated with rainfall and evening relative humidity. Reasons for these correlations are discussed in this paper.