OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913. 77 



is of interest by reason of its attacking bananas in certain islands 

 of the West Indies. The grubs tunnel the roots of the banana 

 plant, and their injuries are apparently important. 



Phytalus smithi Arrow is destructive to sugar cane in Mauritius 

 where it has evidently been introduced from Barbados, its native 

 home. On one occasion 1,372,000 beetles were captured by the 

 natives, who placed small branches in the ground upon which the 

 beetles climbed. Holotricha vidua is reported as the most destruc- 

 tive enemy of sugar cane in the Philippines and has necessitated 

 the abandonment of certain fields. In India, Ceylon, Straits 

 Settlements, Philippines, etc., Oryctes rhinoceros L., eats into the 

 soft tissues of young palms, often killing the trees. Diphucephala 

 colaspidoides injures fruit trees in Australia, especially cherry. 

 The beetles come from the ground about "cherry time" and often 

 in such countless multitudes as to strip a good sized tree in a very 

 few minutes. Apogonia destructor R. Bos., as well as a related 

 species, A. ritsemce Sharp, are destructive pests of sugar cane in 

 Java, injuring the roots of the plants like Lachnosterna sp. in Porto 

 Rico. Heteronychus morator F., in the adult stage, attacks the 

 young cane at the base in Java, often boring in the canes. Xylo- 

 trupes gideon L. also bores sugar cane in the Straits Settlements. 

 AnisopUa austriaca Herbst., in Austria, Hungary and southern 

 Russia, is one of the very troublesome Scarabids attacking cereals 

 about blooming time, destroying the heads. 



Cerambycidce. 



Xylotrechus quadripes Chevr. is a serious enemy of coffee in 

 Southern India, Assam, Sylhet and Burmah, the larvae boring the 

 stems of the plant, especially those shaded. Caloclytus annularis 

 Fabr. injures the bamboo, the larvse destroying the plants by their 

 borings. Calamobius marginettus Fabr. is a European species 

 which injures wheat. The adult oviposits below the head which 

 the resulting larva injures. Batocera rubus L., occurring in south- 

 ern India and Ceylon, is one of the large beetles found throughout 

 the plains, the larvae being common under the bark of felled trees. 

 The beetles penetrate the trunk of young coconut trees and there 

 deposit eggs, the grubs eating to the top, thus destroying the leaves. 

 The mango is also injured. This species has been recently intro- 

 duced in Barbados, where its is doing considerable injury. An 

 allied species, Melanauster chinensis Forst, is very injurious to 

 fruit trees in Japan and China. Apomecyna pertigera Thorns, 

 and A. histrio F., are common insects on cultivated crops in India, 

 the former attacking cucurbits. Acanthophorus serraticornis Oliv. 

 bores the mango in southern India, while Plocoderus obesus Gah. 

 infests Sal wood, the larvae making large cocoons apparently of 



