author(s)
R Raja Rishi, R Sundararaj, V Shwetha, TP Sunayana, Shalini P Rao and N Mohan Karnat

abstract
Dysmicoccus brevipes Cockerell commonly known as the Pink Pineapple mealy bug is a polyphagous pest reported to attack mostly on agricultural crops. Observations made on the occurrence of pest problems in the mangroves of Airoli and Vashi creek of Thane district of Maharashtra revealed the infestation of D. brevipes on mangrove species viz: Avicennia marina, A. officinalis, Sonneratia alba and S. apetala. Though this pest was reported on more than 100 plant species placed in 53 families of agriculture and horticulture importance and one plantation forestry species Casuarina equisetifolia, there was no report of its infestation on mangrove species except one report on Xylocarpus sp. This mealy bug causes severe damage to the plants both in nursery, plantation and in natural mangrove eco-system. Considering the severity of the pest and their epidemic nature of the infestation, experiments were carried out to study the possible control measures by using neem based botanicals in laboratory condition. It revealed that Azadirachtin (0.03%) at 1% concentration was very effective causing 99.6% mortality in 72 hours and 5% of Neem oil (crude) was effective and causing 74.8% mortality in 72 hours.