adult. Damage The papaya mealybug inserts its stylet into the epidermis of the leaf or the skin of fruit or stem and feeds on the plant sap. At the same time it injects a toxic substance into the plant which results in chlorosis, distortion, stunting, early leaf and fruit fall, the production of honeydew, sooty mould and possibly the death of the plant. Biological control Natural enemies of the papaya mealybug include the mealybug destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri), other lady beetles, lacewings and hoverflies. The larvae of several species of parasitoid wasp in the family Encyrtidae attack the papaya mealybug in its native range. In 1999, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Agricultural Research Service collected and reared four species of wasp from Mexico in a biological pest control experiment. They introduced them into Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and achieved a reduction of the papaya mealybug populations in both countries of over 95%. All four wasps were observed parasitising second and third instars of the papaya mealybug, and Acerophagus papayae was the dominant species. All four have since been mass-reared and released in Florida. References Pseudococcidae Agricultural pest insects Citrus pests Insects described in 1992 Hemiptera of Central America