Abbas, G., Arif, M.J., Saeed, F., & Karar, H. 2008 Increasing menace of a new mealybug, Phenacoccus gossypiphilous, to the economic crops of southern Asia.. Proceedings of the XI International Symposium on Scale Insect Studies, Oeiras, Portugal, 24-27 September 2007. ISA Press Lisbon, Portugal 322 pp.

Notes: A pest in the genus Phenacoccus(Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) has been severely infesting the cotton crop (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in Pakistan since 2005. It has been identified as a new species and named by the authors as Phenacoccus gossypiphilus sp. nov. (paper accepted for publication). Its mode of dispersal, mode of damage, wide range of adaptability and alternate host plants, most of which are important economic crops, spells a serious economic threat to all south Asian countries which share similar ecological conditions. The morphology of this mealybug is described and various aspects of its biology are disclosed.