Vol. XVII. No. 433. 



THE AQRICULTDTwlL NEWS, 



379 



1916, and that there was only sliglit estensioa of the area 

 on which the attacks occurred. Some control had been 

 effected on small areas by spraying with Bordeaux mixture. 

 In the previous number trf the Agrku/fural Nmvs the 

 Insect Notes related to cacao tbrips. Figures given in that 

 issue show that the cacao crops of 1916 and 1917, as seen 

 by the amounts of cacao exported, were the largest 

 ever recorded for Grenada. This was in face of the 

 attacks of thrips in 1916, which were reported to be most 

 severe. 



The cacao beetle {Steiras/oma i-':J>ressum) was reported 

 during the year from the western coast of Grenada, where it 

 was locally severe- 

 Mealy-bugs were reported as occarring in Grenada, 

 St. Lucia, and Dominica. The insect referred to was prob- 

 ably Psei/doioaus in'pae. 



Cacao trees were damaged to a slight extent by non- 

 tunnelling termites in Grenada. 



LIMES AND OTHBK CITRUS CROPS. 



In Grenada, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia, scale insects on 

 limes were reported to be generally distributed and locally 

 severe. Coccus vindis was rejiorted as being severe on seed- 

 lings in nurseries in St. Lucia. In Dominica sc*le insects 

 were reported as usually present on poor cultivations and on 

 cultivations in the course of being e.stablished. 



The bark borer (Lcptosiy/iis pnmmorsus) was recorded 

 in Grenada and St. Lucia. 



The records as to the occurrence of the Diaprepes and 

 Exophthalmus weevils in the case of cacao, as with sugar- 

 cane, refer only to the adults; the grubs live in the soil, and 

 are very difficult to observe, and in consequence they are 

 but little remarked. It is reported that on one e.state in 

 Antigua, 100,000 adults of Exophthalmus esuriens were 

 estimated to have been killed in June; 



SWEET POTATO. 



The sweet potato pests would appear to have been 

 of small consequence during llUT. The 'Jacobs' or 

 'scarabee' {Euscepcs batatae) occurred in moat of the 

 islands. In Antigua this pest commonly occurs in pota- 

 toes grown by peasants, and not as a rule in potatoes 

 grown on estates. The leaf-eating caterpillars appear to 

 have caused but little injury except at Virgin Gorda, where 

 Prctoparce cingulata attacked sweet potato vines rather 

 badly. 



INDIAN CORN. 



The pests of Indian corn are of intere.st becau-se of the 

 efforts that have been made to increase the production of 

 this cereal as a war-time measure. 



The caterpillars Hcliothis aimigcr and Laphy;j^ma fi-ugi- 

 perda were present. In Antigua a fair amoi;nt of damage was 

 reported, while in St. Kitts the corn ear worm caused much 

 loss during the year, and the situation was made more 

 serious by- the extremely dry weather. The use of Paris 

 green and corn meal was successful in controlling the attacks 

 on the plant, but later, the corn was. attacked in the ear. 



In certain localities in Antigua Indian corn was some- 

 what damaged by attacks of hard back grubs. 



The moth borer of sugar-cane was very troublesome 

 as a pest of Indian corn in St. Vincent. Grain weevils are 

 reported as having been generally distributed, attacking the 

 corn while ripening in the field, and when stored. 



COCO-M'TS. 



The usual pests of coconuts were reported aa occur- 

 ring, but they appear to have been of very little impor- 

 tance during the year. 



GROUND NUT s . 



Ground nuts were attacked by plant" bugs in St. Viuceot. 



ON ION. s. 



Onions were attacked by caterpillars, but these were not 

 recorded as being severe, except in the Virgin Islands. 

 Thrips were reported from Antigua and Nevis, and in Antigua 

 the hard back grubs attacked onions so severely as to make it 

 impossible to grow this cr.'p in certain districts 



GREEN DRESSING (bEANS ANI) PEAS). 



The principal pests oT green dressing crops are leaf eat- 

 ing caterpillars and the bush bugs {Nezara viridula and 

 others). The leaf eating caterpillars were not much in evi- 

 dence in 1917. 



The bush bugs are of special importance, since in additkm 

 to the direct damage which they do by feeding on these plants, 

 some of them are responsible for infecting the fruits with the 

 fungi of internal boll disease, and of carrying it from these 

 plants to the cotton. During 1917 these insects were 

 reported from Grenada; as doing much damage by carrying 

 fungi of internal boll disease in St. Vincent; of being 

 abundant and doint; a fair amount of damage on 

 the crop at the Hxperiment Station at Nevis; while in the 

 Virgin Islands they usually appear early in the year, and are 

 frequently destructive. 



In St. Vincent a weevil which attacks the young .leeda 

 of cowpeas, bonavist, and pigeon peas has done great damage 

 in many parts of the island, and a certain amount of damage 

 has resulted from attacks of the small moth (P<i//ofia cistipen- 

 iiis) on the pods and seeds. 



i'Lantai.vs and BANANA.S. 

 The black weevil borer {Cosmopolites sordidus) occurs in 

 St. Lucia, Dominica, and Antigua. Although it has long 

 been recognized as attacking these plants, it has not attracted 

 much attention until lately. Reference may be made to 

 articles in the West Indian Bulletin and the Agricultural 

 Nnvs as to the status of this insect. 



In the report under review it is not recorded from 

 Antigua; the record of the occurrence of this in.sect in that 

 island is of recent date. 



In St. Lucia the injury is reported as being particu- 

 larly apparent during the dry season. In Dominica it is 

 a serious obstacle to the cultivation of plantains. Bananas 

 are attacked to a much les.s extent. 



In St. Lucia the black hard back borer (Tomarus 

 Intuberculatvs) attacks banana and plantain bulbs, and is 

 a serious pest of taniiias, dasheens, and eddoe.-. 



I'oder the heading 'Miscellaneous Insects and Posts 

 otherwise unprovided for', referecce is made to the attacks 

 of boring insects in the twigs cf mahogany in St. Lucia and 

 Antigua. This was probably the larva of the small moth, 

 Hypsipyla grandella. 



The large longicrn beetle (Batocera rufius), which has 

 been introduced into the Virgin Islands in recent years, 

 continue.'? to be plentiful. 



In Dominica the maugo maggot, the larva of the fruit 

 fly (Anastrepha sp.), wag unusually abundant. Wood-boring 

 beetles, ambrosia beetles, were troublesome in their attacks 

 on hogsheads and puncheons for shipping lime juice. The 

 slug or ' palute' ( l'enjnii<ifa occidentalis) was not so much in 

 evidence as a pest of provision crops as in 1915. 



NATURAL ENEMIES OF IN.IURIOUS INSECTS. 



The predaceous thrips (Fr.uiklimithrips vespijormis) was 

 fairly well distributed in Grenada on cacao trees infested 

 with the cacao thrips. The hyuienopterous egg-parasites cf 

 bush bugs were abundant in certain districts in St. Vincent. 

 In the Virgin Islands the Jack Spaniards have disappeared 

 since the hurricane of 1916, and the unusually severe infesta- 

 tion of cotton worm is believed to be in part due to the 

 absence of this useful predaceous insect. H.A.B. 



