4 1 2 Cane Fly of Grenada. 



in the caterpillar state, when, like the preceding insect, it 

 burrows into and feeds upon the centre of the stems. The 

 cane is never exempt from this dreaded pest, which oc- 

 casionally, in some islands, destroys whole acres of plants. 

 In addition to these, Mr. Guilding (on the authority of 

 Kirby and Spence, who quote Humboldt and Bonpland) 

 mentions the large firefly (P^iater noctilucus L.) as having 

 been said to have been bred in the cane, but probably only 

 accidentally. Myriads of ants (formica saccharivora L.), also, 

 which once infested, but have now disappeared from, Gre- 

 nada, committed the most frightful ravages, which are de- 

 tailed by Kirby and Spence in their Introduction, vol. i. 

 p. 185. Latreille also describes a solitary species of ant 

 under the name of JFormica analis (which is the F. fce v tens 

 Fab.), which lodges in the interior of the stems, and destroys 

 the plants. Messrs. Kirby and Spence add, from Browne's 

 Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, that the sugar cane 

 has also its A^phis, which sometimes destroys the whole 

 crop; and on this authority Mr. Guilding mentions that "an 

 Undetermined A v phis" proves injurious. He also mentions 

 "the jumper fly," which, he thinks, is " probably one of the 

 Chrysomelidae," perhaps alluding to one of the Halticae, of 

 which our turnip fly is a species : but, as your Grenada cor- 

 respondent has shown that the Delphax is regarded as an 

 A^phis; and as, like all the other C'icadidse, it possesses the 

 power of leaping ; it seems very probable that it is also iden- 

 tical with " the jumper fly ; " and, consequently, " the jumper 

 fly " is not a chrysomelideous insect, or a Haltica. 



As to any attempts which may be made for the extirpation 

 of this insect, I confess that I can see but little chance of 

 success. In respect to the first three insects recorded by 

 Mr. Guilding, the grubs of which, it must be borne in mind, 

 feed upon the internal part of the stems of the cane, and are 

 only injurious in their first state, that gentleman thinks that 

 no remedy can be applied in extensive tracts of land, al- 

 though, by carefully searching the plants, and stripping them 

 of their dead leaves, which harbour the parent insects, they 

 may be prevented from depositing their eggs. In the instance 

 of the ant (.Formica saccharivora L.), whose destructive 

 powers were so dreadful that a reward of 20,000/. was offered 

 to any one who should discover an effectual mode of destroy- 

 ing tliem, nothing could be found to stay their ravages. The 

 aid of fire was even resorted to in vain ; the insects " rushing 

 into the blaze in such myriads of millions as to extinguish it. 

 Vain was every attempt of man to effect their destruction, till, 

 in 1780, it pleased Providence to annihilate them by torrents 



