10 



TIIH AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 2, 191"). 



INSECT NOTES. 



NOTES ON WEST INDIAN PESTS. 



The following brief nob s an based upon the information 

 transmitted in the [terns of Departmental Interest for No- 

 vember last, and they present a general account of what is 

 going "ii in the other islands. 



In St Vincent, the chief pest of cotton was the black 

 scale on cotton. This insect, Saissetia nigra, is well con- 

 trolled, ordinarily, in tin- other islands, by its parasite, 

 Zalophothrix mirum, but in St. Vincent, the parasite, 

 although present, does not seem to exert the -aim' control 

 over the scale insect. 



At Montserrat tin- chaff scale (Parlatoria pergandei) 



is reported to he more troublesome on citrus trees at (Jrove 

 Station than the purple scale (Lepidosaphes beckii). Cotton 

 worm attacks were severe along the Leeward side of the island, 

 possibly lh«' most severe recorded in that island. Cotton 



stainers are suspected of being connected with the occur- 

 rence of the internal boll disease of cotton. It is thought 

 that the punctures made by the stainers in feeding furnish 

 a means for the disease organisms to gain access to the 

 interior of the bolls. 



On some of the lime estates, and at Grove Station, 

 hard hacks are being collected. The insects referred to as 

 hard hacks in this instance are probably the adults of the 

 Leeward Islands root borer {Exophthalmus esuriens) which, 

 it will he remembered, appeared in great numbers in certain 

 lime fields in Antigua and Montserrat in the early part of 

 1914 (see Agricultural Weivs, Vol. XI II, p. 250). This 

 ■ collection of beetles marks tin- adoption of a new practice 

 in Montserrat. 



It is also stated that interesting experiments with lime 

 plants are in progress, some of which are in connexion with 

 the effects of Exophthalmus grubs in the -oil, and others with 



the purple scale. 



In Antiguaalso, attacks of tin cotton worm were recorded 

 during I lie month. 



In St. Kiit< the greater part of the cotton had been 



ped, but ulnae this crop was left to make a second growth, 



leaf-blister mite was much in evidence. A plot of young 



:assava plant- (cuttings) was found to he badly attacked 



by the root borer grubs (Exophthalmus esuriens). This pest 



eems to be increasing in St. K il I 



In Nevis the cotton was reported to he attacked by leaf 



1. lister mite, the cotton worm, and a mealy hug; the first 

 > ueral, ami the two latte, insects o| local, occurrence. 



The I ward Island- root 1 p (Exophthalmos esun 



lias come into much prominence during the past two or three 



years as a pesl of cotton and other crops in the Leeward 



1-lands. ft has been known for many year- as a common 



• t in those islands, hut only recently a- a pe-t. [i has 



been found in Barbados during 1914. Specimens from this 

 last mentioned locality have been examined bj Mr. G. A. K. 

 Marshall, Director, imperial Bureau of Entomology, who 



rep.. its that while the Barbados specimens differ slightly from 

 those from the Northern Islands, the differences are not suffi 

 eient to enable the it sects to be regarded as distinct species. 

 Mr. Mar-hall considers that the Barbados Exophthalmus has 



probably been established in that island for a long time, and 

 is not likely to prove more of a pest in the future than at 



present, It has been only once reported from sugar-cane fields 

 in Barbados, being most commonly found in the adult or 

 weevil stage feeding on the leaves oi Agavt sisalana in 

 -mall district on the seacoast, in the southern part of the 



island. 



INSECT PESTS IN MAURITIUS IN 1913. 



Tin- r. port of the Division of Entomology tor L913, 

 h\ D. d'E. de Charmoy, which appeared in the Annual 

 Report of the Department of Agriculture, .Mauritius, 

 for 1!»18, wa> abstracted in the Review of Applied 

 Entomology. Seri< - A, Agricultural, for October 1914. 



This abstract is given herewith as likely to ho 

 of interest to West Indian planters. 



As in previous years, the Dynastid beetle (Oryctcs 

 tarandus) was prevalent during 1913 on certain sugar estates, 

 but the method of digging out the larvae was adopted more 

 widely, ami has proved to be highly beneficial. The Melolon- 

 thid, Lachnosterna sp., was found on sugar-cane in small 

 numbers, control measures being responsible for a noticeable 

 reduction. Aphis sacc&ari occurred in great numbers on two 

 sugar estates, hut by the middle of July all the insects were 

 destroyed by a fungus. The white borer, the larva of a small, 

 greyish moth, not yet determined, was verj abundant 



throughout the island in virgin canes, while burning previous 



to cropping wa- suggested in order to protect the ratoons, 

 and to avoid the dissemination of Chionaspis tegalensif. 

 A census of the area infected by Phy talus smithi, Arrow, 

 made in May and June 1913, indicate. I that this pe-t was 

 not spreading. During 1913 some 31 million insects were 

 destroyed, against 1"> million in 1912, ami L' I million in 1911. 

 The increase of captures in 1913 was probably due to the 

 reward offered being higher than in 1912, and secondly, to 



a more thorough knowledge of the habits of the I tie. 1'p 



to the end of December 1913, some adults, chieflj males, ol 

 Tiphia parallela. Smith, had been observed in the insectary 

 built for the breeding of this Scoliid parasite of /'. smithi. 

 Other insects damaging various crops were Ceratitis capitata, 

 Dacus ferrvgineus, Agromyza phaseoli, Prodenia littoralis, 

 lawn cutworm ( Crambut sp ), Cratopus punctum, Adoretus 

 versutus, Sphenapkorus ttriatus (banana borer), and Coccus 

 viridis (Lecanivm viride), besides numbers of other mealy- 

 hugs and scale insects. Tomatoes were seriouslj damaged 

 by the eelworm, lleterodera radicicola. The "lawn cutworm', 

 which for the last lew years has been a serious pe-t. was 



successfully controlled by means of an application oi kerosene 



mixture made as follows: 1 part (by weight) of common 

 soap is dissolved in 20 parts of water, Id parts petroleum 

 being gradually added; to '_' I parts of this emulsion add 16 



parts Phenyl or 12 parts Creoline. A 2 per cent, solution of 

 this mixture does not injure grass, if applied at the rate of 

 11 gallons per S( l s« | ua re feet for the de-l ruction of subterra 

 man caterpillars ami Orycta larvae. 



