60 



The introduction of ( 'the boll weevil into the Lesser 

 Antilles would in .all probability put a speedy end to the 

 cotton industry. 



SUGAR-CANE. 



MOTH BORER (Diatraea saccharalis, Fabr.). Lepidoptera. 



The moth borer is one of the most serious of all the 

 pests of sugar-cane in the Lesser Antilles. It is known 

 throughout the sugar-growing regions of tropical and sub- 

 tropical America, of which it is probably a native. It also 

 attacks Indian corn in much the same manner as it affects 

 sugar-cane. The parent is a whitish or straw-coloured 

 moth, with dark spots on the wings. The wings, when 

 spread, measure about 1J inches. The injury done by this 

 pest to the cane results from the tunnelling of the 

 larva in the stems. 



The larva of the moth borer 

 is a whitish caterpillar with 

 scattered dark s])ots, in each of 

 which there is a black hair or 

 bristle. When full-grown, it is 

 about 1 to 1| inches in length. 

 The pupa, which is formed in the 

 tunnel made by the larva, is about 

 f-inch in length, dark brown 

 in colour, and the abdominal seg- 

 ments are set with short, stiff 

 bristles. 



The eggs of this insect are flat 

 and scale-like (Fig. 60). They are 

 laid on the leaves of the sugar-cane in clusters of twenty to 

 thirty. The larva (Fig. 61), soon after hatching, travels 

 down the leaf to its base, which in young canes is near the 

 growing point. It bores its way into the stem, where 

 it spends the remainder of the larval and the pupal stages. 

 When the pupal stage is completed the moth (Figs. 62 and 63) 



^ujiTTi 



Fig. 6o. Eggs of moth borer. 



Enlarged. (Imperial Bept. 

 Agric.) 



X& 



Fig. 6i. Full-grown caterpillar of moth borer. 

 Enlarged. (Imperial Dept. Agric.) 



