Estimation of levels of carbohydrates in mealey bug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus) infected stem of hibiscus rosa sinensis.

Mealey bug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus) causes dreadful infection in Hibiscus rosa sinensis.Infections are highly virulent and alters biochemical componenets of the species. Therefore an attempt has been made to evaluate the alteration of biochemical components in Hibiscus stem at various stages of infection. The results reveal that partial infected stem had shown 14.2% increase in its total soluble sugars whereas highly infected had shown 40% decrease.The results also show that total soluble sugars had increased significantly(14%) in highly infected stem and noticeable increase (3%) in partial infected.