OF WASHINGTON. 223 
nut. Rabbits and rats are greatly destructive to the sprouting nuts, but 
no insects injurious to the young or old trees were observed by me. I 
even failed to get any evidence that Rhynchophorus cruentatus, which is 
said to injure young trees in other parts of Florida, ever attacks the Cocoa- 
nut on the Keys or the shores of Biscayne Bay- 
The Oranges, Limes, and allied fruit trees have the same enemies in 
semi-tropical Florida as in the true Orange region of the State. Orange 
dogs (larvae of Papilio cresphontes} are greatly injurious everywhere, 
but the various scale insects appear to be much less troublesome in the 
south than farther north, owing no doubt to the fact that no large groves 
are planted in the semi-tropical region. The few trees at Cocoanut Grove 
on the shores of Biscayne Bay were remarkably free from scales, but along 
the Miami River and at Lake Worth they were quite abundant. The Lime 
trees, and to some extent also the young Orange trees, have a most for- 
midable enemy in a moderate-sized weevil, Artipus ftoridanus, of the family 
Otiorhynciiidce. The injury is done by this pest in the imago state, and 
consists in gnawing off the edges of the leaves of older trees, but more 
especially in devouring the young buds. During my stay at Cocoanut 
Grove a row of young Lime trees was set out, and every morning from 40 
to 70 beetles were found on each tree. After knocking these off into an 
umbrella and killing them, an equal number of beetles was found on each 
tree three or four hours later. Only a persistent and often-repeated jar- 
ring gave the young buds an opportunity to start. The earlier stages of 
this pest are still unknown, but from analogy with the other species of the 
family Otiorkynchidce we may infer that the larva lives underground on 
the roots of plants. Whether it is polyphagous as the imago or confined 
to a single plant we do not know.* 
A few West Indian and South American fruit trees, such as Mango, 
Guava, Alligator Pear, etc., are planted on almost every settlement, and 
seem to enjoy a perfect immunity from injurious insects. 
Of Sweet Potatoes I saw only at Cocoanut Grove a few patches, and 
was surprised to see not a single specimen of Cylas formicarius, which 
was found by Mr. Ashmead in great abundance on Metacumbe Key, less 
than 50 miles distant from my headquarters. The larvae and imagos of 
* The larval habits of many Otiorhynchidce have been made known in 
Europe, all of them being root-feeders; but only two of our North Ameri- 
can species have been studied in the earlier stages, viz., Aramigus Fulleri 
and Otiorhynchiis ovatns, the latter being common to Europe and North 
America. In contradistinction with the unity in larval habits in this 
family, Dr. Harris, while speaking of our most common species, Pandele- 
te/us //Man's, says (Treatise, etc., p. 70:) "The larva lives in the trunks of 
White Oak, on which the beetle may be found about the last of May and. 
the beginning of June." This account has frequently been quoted, but 
never verified or corroborated by any subsequent observation, and I am 
strongly inclined to doubt its correctness. 
