314 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



September 27, 1913. 



INSECT NOTES. 



DESTRUCTION OF MOLE CRICKETS IN 



PORTO RICO BY THE HERON OR 



GAULDING. 



In the Experiment Staticm Record for June 19 lo. 

 thtre appears the following note entitled Useful Birds 

 of Porto Rico: — 



During the economic investigations of birds in Porto 

 Eico by the Biological Survey ot thi.s Department, several 

 species of herons were found to be valuable to agriculture 

 in destroying large numbers of 'La Changa' or mole 

 cricket. This is especially true in the case of the green 

 heron, and to a less extent of the little blue heron and snowy 

 heron. With a view to protecting the heron, it has been 

 recommended that certain areas of mangrove swamps under 

 insular control, which the herons frequent for resting places 

 and for the purpose of breeding, be designated as bird 

 refuges. 



The green heron mentioned as being particularly 

 useful in this connexion is probably the common 

 gaulding(ilrofert riresfgHs), which is resident in Barba- 

 dos and perhaps in other islands of the Lesser Antilles, 

 whilst the grey gaulding(47'r/crt /leroc/.ia.s) which visits 

 most of these islands, even if it may not be a resident, 

 is probably the little blue heron. The white gaulding 

 (Ardea egretta) may be the same as the snowy heron 

 mentioned in the note above. 



THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL IN THE 

 UNITED STATES DURING 1912. 



At the West Indian Agricultural Conference at Trinidad 

 in January 1912, a paper was presented by the Entomologist 

 to this Department, reviewing briefly the occurrence and 

 spread of the boll weevil in the United States up to the end 

 of 1910, according to the published accounts of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. (See ll'es^ Indian 

 Bulletin, Vol. .Mil, p. 29.) 



llecently a further account of the spread of this insect 

 has been issued in Circular No. 107 of the Bureau of 

 Entomology, entitled. The Movement of the (Jotton Boll 

 Weevil in 1912, by W. D. Hunter and W. D. Pierce. 



In this paper it is .'•Lown that although the boll weevil 

 lost ground to the extent of 10,240 square miles, principally 

 in the northern portion of the infested territory, yet it made 

 a total gain of 22,720 square miles chiefly to the eastward, 

 thus showing a net gain in infested territory of 7,300 

 square miles. 



The set-back which the insect received in the northern 

 portion of its range is stated to be due to the unusually 

 severe climatic conditions which prevailed in the section 

 during the winter of 1911-12. It is worthy of note that 

 since 190(), there has been but little change in the boundary 

 line of the infested territory on the extreme west, in 

 .southern Texas, and that to the east, especially in the 

 coastal region, there has been each year a regular and very 

 considerable extension. 



The Circular includes a very interesting map on which 

 the boundary line for each year since 1902 is shown, and 

 a table isprtsented giving the gain and loss for 1912 in 

 each of the States within the infested area. The following 



figures showing the totals and the net gain for 1912 

 are interesting. — 



Area infested Gain in 1912, Loss in 1912, Area infested 



in 1911, sq. miles. sq. miles. in 1912, 



sq. miles. f sq. miles. 



271,500 22,7120 1.5,420 278,800 



Net gain in 1912, 7, .300 



A LUCERNE AND LAWN PEST. 



Under the headinir Insect Notes in the South African 

 Agricultural Journal for July 1913, there is given a brief 

 account of a caterpillar .(Card'h-iwi fir/ua) which, although 

 possessing a wide range of food plants, has been particularly 

 injurious to newly-planted lucerne and to lawns in the 

 Transvaal. 



This insect is a dull coloured, liairless caterpillar, which 

 when full-grown measures about Ij inches in length. It ia 

 a voracious feeder reaching its full growth in a short time. 

 There are several broods in a season. 



Many fields of lucerne were eaten bare and no success 

 was reported from trials of spraj ing with Paris green and 

 arsenate of lead. „ 



Lawns in Pretoria and other towns were badly attacked. 

 The spraying of these yith the insecticides mentioned above 

 was found to be effective if the spraying was done before the 

 injury had gone too far, that is, before the foliage of the 

 grass was all eaten off. When the injury had proceeded 

 so far that only the bare stems of the grasses were left, resort 

 was had to the use of poisoned baits. 



The poisoned bait which, in the trials conducted by the 

 Agricultural Department proved most effective, consisted of 

 bran (pollard) 20 lb , sugar 4 ft)., Paris green 1 lb. The 

 sugar was dissolved in a gallon of water. This was used to 

 moisten the bran, after which the poi.son was carefully stirred 

 in until it was uniformly distributed throughout the whole 

 mixture. When prepared in this manner the poisoned bait 

 was merely damp and friable, not adhering in masses. It was 

 applied in the late afternoon at tbe rate of 100 lb. per acre, 

 being .scattered broadcast. It pn^ved to be very effectual, 

 a large proportion of the caterj)illars succumbing to the 

 effects of the poison by the following morning. 



A similar bait in which the poison used was arsenate of 

 lead instead of Paris green, was also efficient, but its action 

 was slower, and on this account was not considered so satis- 

 factory for use on badly infested lawns. 



ANOTHER COCKROACH POISON. 



Residents in the Ttropics are, at one time or another, 

 interested in controlling cockroaches, which if left to develop 

 unchecked, often beconie a great nuisance. The mixtures of 

 chocolate and boric acid, molasses and boric acid, and flour 

 and plaster of Paris are all generally known. Another 

 mixture which has recently been tried in Barbados with 

 apparently very good results contains naphthalene and boric 

 acid in ecjual parts, the naphthalene being pounded or 

 crushed in a mortar to a fine powder before being mixed 

 with the boric acid. 



This mixture has been sprinkled plentifully in the 

 haunts and hiding places of cockroaches at intervals, say, 

 of about two week.s, and after two or three applications 

 the insects almost entirely disappeared. Readers of the 

 Agricidlural Xi-irg may be glad to try this mixture in order 

 to compare the results with those yielded by the use of the 

 better-known cockroach poisons. 



