I'G 



THE AaTlICULTURAL NEWS. 



Jani'aey 18, 1913. 



INSECT NOTES. 



SUMMARY OF ENTOMOLOGICAL 

 INFORMATION IN THE AGRI- 

 CULTURAL NEWS IN 1912. 



In the Ayiiriihura! iV- «■< for January G, 1912 (see 

 Vol. aI, p. 10) a brief summary wa>i given of the information 

 put forward during the year 1911. In a similar manner it 

 4S now proposed to summarize the information relating to 

 •jntomological subjects given in this journal during 1912. 



In the number for January 20, the Insect Notes con- 

 visttd of a brief review of the insect pests of the preceding 

 year, the information being obtained, in response to a request 

 by the Imperial Commissioner, from the agricultural rfficers 

 in the several islands. The succeeding infoimation given 

 htre will deal with the insect pests of the different chief 

 ■crops. 



sui;.\R. The froghopper of the sugarcane {Tonias})is 

 '•aria) has been a serious pest in Trinidad for several years. 

 Information in regard to this insect was presented in an 

 article entitled Entomology in Trinidad, where the results of 

 certain experiments in burning canes in the fields and the 

 Brass-grown traces are given, as well as of those in the use 

 'jf the froghopper fungus. (Metarrhizimn anisopliai-). The 

 best results in burning were obtained in those fields where 

 the canes were cut and then burned. The froghopper fungus 

 appeared to be doing good work. Mention is also made of 

 the Me.xiean predaceous bug (Castolns sp.) which had been 

 introduced as an enemy of the froghopper. This article 

 appeared on p. 314. 



The brown hardback (PhytaJus smithi. Arrow), or the 

 >,ugar-cane beetle as it is called in Mauritius, is the subject 

 of the Insect Notes on p. 90, and is briefly mentioned on 

 pp. 234 and 314. In the first of these references, the 

 >;normous numbers of this insect captured and destroyed are 

 mentioned and a brief accoun . is given of the method of collec- 

 tion. It is also .stated that the insect in Barbados is identical 

 with the Mauritius species. In the note on p. 234 mention 

 is made of the discovery in Barbados of a parasite of the 

 brown hardback. This parasite is a black wasp which was 

 identified as 2'iphia parall'-Za, Smith. On p. 314, further 

 reference is made to the numbers of the beetle captured in 

 Mauritius. The total catch for the season amounted to over 

 26 million, while the greatest catch for any one day (or night) 

 was something less than 3 million. The weight of these 

 fmormous numbers of insects is of interest: it is said to have 

 amounted to about 20 long tons and about 1,.540 tt). res- 

 pectively. 



During the year a new pest of sugar-cqjie was reported 

 from St. Croix in the Danish We.st Indies. This is Stnttequs 

 /itaiius, a brown beetle the larva of which is a large, whitish 

 grub living in the soil and attacking the >inderground portions 

 of the cane. 



The weevil borer {SphenophorM o'>sritns) as a pest of 

 sugarcane is mentioned in an article entitled Economic 

 Entomology in Fiji (see p. 218). This appears to be the 

 pr.ncipal pest of sugar cane in Fiji, where it is controlled by 

 means of baits of small pieces of snlit caric distributed on the 

 ground to attract egg-laying female.'j. The baits are collected 

 and burned when eggs have bcpn laid in them. 



Two articles based on a report on a vieit to St. Kitts 

 (pp. 282 a.id 298) also mention insects which occur as pests 

 of sugar-cane. The chief of these are termites, provisionally 

 identified as I'ermes Jla"ipes, which cause .serious injury to 

 canes on a limited area in that island. Another insect, 

 Lachiiosltnia patvuelis, occurs in abundance in the soil of 



cane fields in the locality where the termites are known. 

 A root borer also recurred in these fields. This was the larva 

 of a weevil, and although an adult was not reared from the 

 larva, circumstances seemed to indicate that it might be a well- 

 known greyish brown weevil* which occurs throughout the 

 Leeward Islands, where it feeds on the leaves of citrus plants, 

 and is commonly to be found hiding in pigeon pess, and oiher 

 bushy plants growing in the vicinity of cane fields. 



The sugar cane insects of Hawaii formed the subject of 

 an article which appeared on p. 74. This was a review of 

 Bulletin 93 of the IJnited Statps I >epartinent of Agriculture, 

 Bureau of Entomology. The leaf hopper {Ptrkinsielfa, 

 sacc/iaricida) is the principal pest of .'ugar-cane in Hawaii, 

 the damage done by this insect in 1903 and 1904 having been 

 estimated at about §3,000,000. In more recent years this 

 loss has been greatly reduced, largely by means of natural 

 enemies which have been employed under scientific control. 



The occurrence of the cane tly [Delplia.i xncc/iayirora) in 

 Martinique in 1910 is mentioned at p. 234. 



COTTOX. Perhaps the most important feature in con- 

 nexion with the pests of cotton during 1912 is the discovery, 

 by the Entomologist of this Department, of the leaf blister 

 mite {Eriop/ii/es (/ussi/pii) in Barbados. This mite has been 

 known in other West Indian islands since 1903, but until the 

 early part of 1912 it was not known to occur in Barbados. 

 After its discovery, however, investigation revealed that it 

 was widely distributed in the island and that it had probably 

 existed there for more than one year, but had not been 

 observed and reported. References to this occurrence are to 

 be found at pp. 90 and 106. 



The cotton worm in the United States in 1911 was the 

 subject of a note (see, p. 260) in which the theory was 

 advanced that the unusual outbreaks of this pest in the 

 I'nited States in 1911 resulted from migrations of the adult 

 insect, presumably from Mexico and Central America or the 

 West Indies. The occurrence of the cotton worm in Trinidad 

 is referred to in the article already mentioned ( l-^ntomclogy 

 in Tiinidad; p. 314). 



Reference is made to experiments with the cotton boll 

 weevil in Cuba (see p. 170), where it is said to have been- 

 found that by late planting and the destruction of cotton 

 plants, as soon as the crop is harvested, cotton can be groWn 

 satisfactorily even though boll weevil is present. In the 

 United States, however, early planting has produced moFe- 

 satisfactory results than late planting. 



The occurrence of a weevil in German East Africa, which 

 attacks Caravonica cotton in a manner similar to that in 

 which the boll weevil attacks Upland cotton in the United 

 States, is mentioned at p. 266. 



li.^NANAs. Insects aitack'ng the banana have been dis- 

 cussed at pp. 170 and 218. Both these references are to the 

 occurrence of the banana weevil [l>i>heiiopli(n-us sordidiifi) in. 

 Fiji, which is of interest because, while this insect is 

 a serious pest in that place, it occurs in the West Indi' s 

 without attracting any very special attention. 



COCO-NUTS Bests of coco-nuts have been referred to in 

 three places during the year. In the article on Economic 

 I'^Dtomology in Fiji (see p. 218) mention is made of several 

 coco-nut pests. 



A iiew species of white lly (Aleyroihrns ilestriicl'ir} 

 attacking coco-nuts is recorded from the Philippines. Another 

 article referiing to coconuts in the Philippines, entitled 

 Protection of Coco-nut Palms from lieetles, appeared at 

 p. 378. It gives an account of legislation having for its 

 object the control of coco-nut beetles, Oii/ctes rhinoceros and 

 A'/ii/nc/top/ii,rus ferrugineui, by compelling owners to destroy 



♦ Since identitied as Exophthahtvis esxirieus. 



