74 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



February l'G, lliIC. 



INSECT NOTES. 



INSECTS IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS. 



Au interesting collection of insects has been received 

 from Mr. I'lshlock, Curator of the E.^perinient Station, 

 Virgin Islands. The following note.s deal with some of the 

 more important of these. 



A NkW liftBEE, 



This insect, Balocera ruf/ra, L., was the subject of the Insect 

 Notes in the Agricultural Ne»:< for September 16, 1911 

 (Vol. X, p. 298), where under the title 'An Insect New to 

 the West Indies', an account was given ^i:>f its occurrence in 

 St. Croix and Trinidad. 



C)EIGISAL HOME. Batoceva rubra belongs to a genus of 

 insects found in the Far East, which is not represented in 

 the New World. The genus Batocera is found in India, 

 Ceylon, throughout Polynesia to Australia, Africa and 

 Mauritius. The species under consideration, which enjoys the 

 widest geographical distribution, of any species of the genus, 

 is recorded from India, Ceylon, Borneo, Sumatra, the 

 peninsula of ilalacca, the island of Bourbon, Mauritius and 

 Africa. 



occuREEXCE IN NEW WOULD. Its Occurrence in the New 

 World would appear to be the result of very recent intro- , 

 duction. The first authentic record of its presence in this 

 part of the world is chat given in the Aiiricultural News 

 article referred to above — viz., St. Croi.x, in 1911, where it is 

 stated to have been known for about three years previou.sly. 

 The record of two specimens having been collected in the 

 West Indies in 1906 by an officer of the L'nited States 

 Bureau of Entomology was not verified, because the species 

 being entirely of eastern occurre'nce, the record was regarded 

 with doubt. 



At the present time Jt. rubra is known to occur in 

 St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola in the Virgin Islands, in 

 addition to the one record of its capture in Trinidad. 



FOOD PL.\j«T.s. In the Virgin Islands this insect is stated 

 to attack a considerable number of plants: mango, avocado, 

 papaw, banana, Fictis elaxtica, Ficus sp., hog plum, and 

 a tree known as Bois Hot (Ochroma Lagopux). In Ceylon 

 this insect is stated to have been a serious pest of young 

 coco-nut trees. In India it has been a pest of mango and 

 Euki fig. 



Mr. Fishlock states in regard to the specimens referred 

 to: 'Of the grubs now sent, one was taken from beneath 

 the bark of a tree of Ficus elaxtica growing in the Station, 

 and the others from the trunk of a hog plum tree (Spondias 

 lutea) which had been felled some time. In each case many 

 beetles wei-e ob.served close by; somn were eating the leaves of 

 the Ficus, and, in the case of the hog plum, crawling about 

 the trunk, and on the ground near by. I am informed by 

 Dr. Longfield Smith this .same beetle hiis been responsible 

 for the death of a number of wild fig trees (/'Viv/.v sp.) in 

 St. Croix.' 



Batocera rubra is one of the long-horned beetles. These 

 beetles are borers in the trunks and branches of trees and 

 woody plants, the adult female depositing eggs either under 

 or upon the bark, and the larva or grub eating its way into 

 the interior of the plant or tunnelling under the bark. Many 

 species attack live wood, and live in tissues which are alive or 

 just dj'ing, while others live in dead and decaying wood. The 

 species under consideration seems to be capable of attacking 

 healthy trees, and also the grubs appear to be able to live and 

 feed in decaying wood. 



A DANGEROUS SPECIES. This insect is probably of very 

 recent introduction to this part of the world, especially to 

 the Virgin Islands. Such a large insect could not long 

 escape observation; either its grubs and their attacks on trees 

 would be noted, or the great, handsome beetles would attract 

 attention. Introduced insects are always liable to become 

 serious pests, and in the case of this one, it probably 

 is not too much to say, unless some definite action is 

 taken to check it, that Batocera rubra will develop into 

 a pest of considerable- importance in the islands where it 

 occurs. 



In other islands where this insect has not yet been found, 

 precaution should be taken to guard against its introduction 

 either in living trees or in dead wood. 



METHODS OF lONTROL. Whercver a tree is found to be 

 attacked, a careful search should be made for grubs, and these 

 destroyed by probing with a wire, or by digging them out. 

 Traps may loe uiade by the use of logs of trees known to be 

 food ])lants of this insect, left on the ground to attract the ^ 

 egg-laying beetles. When the logs are infested with grubs, 

 they should be destroyed. 



The adult beetles may be collected by hand. 



THE INSECT. The beetles are verj' showy insects, the 

 general colour being a dark brown, with reddish or jellowish 

 spots on the wing covers. The scutellum is white, and there 

 are wide lateral stripes beneath of shining white. The length 

 is from 2 to 2i inches, the antennae, in the case of the males 

 especially, extending beyond the tip of the abdomen. 



The larvae attain to a length of 4 to 4i inches, and ' 

 a thickness of nearly |-inch in the widest part, the thorax, 

 just behind the head. 



Rhinoceros Beetle (Strategus titanus). 



Several large beetle grubs were included which are 

 believed to be the larvae of Strategus titanus. This insect 

 has been a serious pest of sugar-cane in St. Croix, where it has 

 been controlled by the use of a poison bait made of finely 

 ground mega.ss (100 lb.) and Paris green (3 &.), 



tJoTTON Floweu-Bud Maggot. 



Cotton flower buds infested by a small maggot were 

 submitted for examination. It wa.s found that the insect 

 concerned is.the larva of one of the Cecidomyiidae, and it 

 may prove to be the same as that w-hich caused a consider- 

 able amount of lo.ss to cotton growers in Antigua, and has 

 been recorded from Montserrat. Specimens of the adult fly 

 will be needed to settle this point. 



In Antigua, the attack of the tlower-bud maggot caused 

 the bracts surrounding the buds to flare back, and the buds to 

 drop. It is not stated whether the bracts flare in the \'irgin 

 Islands attacks, but it is to be inferred that they do, since the 

 maggots act in the same way in both cases, being found 

 amongst the anthers in the bud, where they live and feed. 



Boot Borer Weevil ('Diaprepes spengleri) and thb Cotton 

 L.vcHNopus (Lac/mopus curvipes). 



These two beetles were collected on lime trees. They 

 are stated to attack the growing parts of limes and other . 



