Tb 
believe that in general the depredations of the beetle are no less serious in 
their ultimate effects than in the cases reported from the Provinces of La- 
guna and Tayabas, in which regions Senor Reyes has seen the damage to 
which he has made reference. I visited Magdalena, Province of Laguna, 
which lies in a fairly productive coconut region, and have found condi- 
_ tions closely resembling those set forth above, except that only a very 
few trees has actually fallen, In most instances where this had occurred 
the stumps had been cut off rather close to the ground during the previous 
year, and hence we found little material at hand upon which to work. 
However, we were convinced that the menace to coconut growing from 
this insect is fully as serious as, if not more so than, that occasioned by 
the attacks of Oryctes rhinoceros L. | 
This weevil enters the tree through the smallest wounds, leaving no 
external trace of its work, so that all its ravages are committed where 
not suspected ; hence it is an extremely difficult enemy to combat. 
The Asiatic palm weevil belongs to a group the members of which are, 
almost without exception, destructive to vegetable substances, either 
living or in the form of stored products, such as grains, beans, pease, 
and nuts. The beetle under discussion is one of the largest of its kind. 
The rice weevil is not more than 5 to 6 millimeters long; the corn weevil, 
Calandra oryza Linn., is slightly larger; the boll weevil, Anthonomus 
grandis Boh., which is at present proving so serious a menace to cotton 
growing in the United States, measures about 5 millimeters in length ; 
the plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar Hbst., a weevil, is 6 millime- 
ters long; while there is another species attacking the coconut which 
measures 13 millimeters. The Asiatic palm weevil measures 35 milli- 
meters in length. The form is strikingly characteristic in all individuals 
of this group. The most prominent features are an oblong, oval-shaped 
body and a long, slender, curved snout or bill, to which are attached the 
antenne, either near the base or the tip. The colors vary from black to 
light brown or red, but are usually obscure. 
The larvee are legless, with a head of chitinous or horny structure, 
usually darker than the body and having two strong mandibles well 
adapted to gnawing the hardest vegetable substances. The Asiatic palm 
weevil has never been seen to make a primary attack upon the hard 
wood of the coconut; wherever it has been observed, it has utilized the 
holes made by Oryctes, wounds carelessly made around the base of the 
tree, or the steps cut into the sides of it by the tuba gatherers. Wherever 
the hard bark is broken and the softer parts beneath exposed, excellent 
places for the laying of the eggs are found and the beetle often makes a 
hole 10 millimeters deep before depositing them. The character of the 
hole and the tracks of the larve after hatching are shown diagrammati- 
‘ally in Plate VI, fig. 4. In laying their eggs in the burrows made by 
Oryctes, the palm weevils undoubtedly make no appreciable hole, simply 
