Abstract
Hatchability of Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) was investigated under a high humidity (relative humidity was 100%) and submerged conditions in the laboratory. After eggs had experienced 7 days of the high humidity and submerged conditions, the hatchability dropped to 20 and 7% under a suitable condition (70% in relative humidity) for hatching, respectively. No larvae were found after keeping the submerged condition for 10 days. A control method of high humidity conditions against P. pentagona eggs beneath their mother's scale was tested using a sprinkler in tea fields. Tea branches were always wet by the intermittently sprinkling water (120 to 150t/ha per day) during day time and P pentagona eggs discolored and died under mother's scale. The high humidity conditions using the sprinkler for 16 days after initiated the first hatching of P. pentagona eggs gave effective control against P. pentagona in tea fields.
