Coccids attacking Cacao (Theobroma cacao, L.), in West Africa, with Descriptions of five new Species

Abstract

Cacao was introduced into West Africa in the latter years of the last century and for a time remained relatively free from pests and diseases. It is, in fact, only recently that two major scourges have developed to a point where they are threatening the future of the cacao industry in the Gold Coast and Nigeria. The first, the cacao Mirids (Sahlbergella singularis, Hagl., and Distantiella theobroma, Dist.) is outside the range of the present paper. The second, and most important, is a virus disease, known as “Swollen Shoot”, which is transmitted from tree to tree by at least three species of mealybugs of the family Pseudococcidae.