Viruses diseases of taro (Colocasia esculenta) and Xanthosoma sp. in Papua New Guinea

This general paper on the virus diseases of taro (Colocasia esculenta) and Xanthosoma sp., the leaves and corms of both of which are eaten as vegetables in Papua New Guinea, deals mainly with distribution records and symptomatology but includes a section on insect vectors found in that country, although not all the species listed were found on taro or other Araceae. Vectors of the flexuous rod-shaped virus particles were Aphis gossypii Glov., A. craccivora Koch and Myzus persicae (Sulz.); the vector of the large bacilliform particles was Tarophagus proserpina (Kirk.); and the vectors of the small bacilliform particles were Planococcus citri (Risso), which has not been recorded on taro, and Pseudococcus longispinus (Targ.), which has not been recorded in Papua New Guinea, the only mealybug reported from taro in Papua New Guinea being Dysmicoccus brevipes (Ckll.). Predators of mealybugs occurring naturally in that country include the coccinellids Cryptolaemus affinis Crotch, C. montrouzieri Muls. and C. wallacii Crotch, and species of Cyrtorhinus are recorded there from rice or taro that are closely related to or identical with C. fulvus Knight, which was successfully introduced into Hawaii from the Philippines to destroy the eggs of T. proserpina.