author(s)
V. S. Nagrare, Rishi Kumar, B. Dharajothi

abstract
Five mealybug species belonging to Pseudococcidae and Monophlebidae families of Hemiptera order were recorded as minor pests of cotton in India. These mealybug species were spherical mealybug Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead), striped mealybug Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell),Pink hibiscus mealybug Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), mango mealybug Rastrococcus iceryoides (Green) (Pseudococcidae) and ber mealybug Perissopneumon tamarindus (Green) (Monophlebidae). N. viridis was found to infest cotton from Nagpur, Wardha and Amaravati districts of Maharashtra. F. virgata was recorded from Nagpur and Coimbatore while M. hirsutus from Coimbatore. R. iceryoides was documented fromNagpur and Salem in association with other mealybugs such as Phenacoccus solenopsis, Paracoccus marginatus and N. viridis while P. tamarindus was restricted to Sirsa of Haryana state. Among these species, N. viridis was found to be next most widely distributed mealybug species after P. solenopsis and deserves close monitoring.