10 



THE AGRISULTURAL NEWS. 



January 6, 1912. 



INSECT NOTES. 



SUMMARY OF INFORMATION GIVEN 

 DURING 1911. 



In the Ayricultural Ne>rs for February 4, and 18, 1911 

 (see Vol. X, pp. 42 and 56), an article appeared entitled 

 A Summary of Entomological Information in the Agrind- 

 tural News and West Indian Bulletin during the year 1910. 

 Similarly, the object of the present paper is to summar- 

 ize the information relating to Entomological subjects which 

 has been published in the Agricultural News, Vol. X, during 

 1911. 



SUGAR. On pa^e 122, an account appears of the palm 

 weevil (Rhyrichophorns paliitarum) attacking sugar-cane in 

 Trinidad, and it is also mentioned that the cocoa-nut moth 

 (Castnia daedalus) has in one instance at least been known 

 to attack the sugar-cane in British Guiana. The frog-hopper 

 of the sugar-cane (?'oHias/)is('aria,Fabr.) formed the subject 

 of an article on page 154 where, in a review of Dr. Gough's 

 work in Trinidad, it was shown that spraying with kerosene 

 -emulsion and kerosene lysol emulsion is likely to be suc- 

 ce.ssful. A specially designed spraying nozzle is also mention- 

 ed in this conne.xion. Trap lights were also discussed. The 

 use of the frog-hopper fungus was mentioned as likely to be 

 of considerable value in connexion with the control of this 

 pest. Burning the trash in the field destroys many frog-hop- 

 per eggs. 



The sugar-cane borers which are known as pests in Brit- 

 ish Guiana are mentioned on the same page (154) in a review 

 of a report by Mr. Quelch. This deals principally with the 

 giant moth borer {Castnia lirus). Mention is made of the 

 smaller moth borer {Diatrea sacrharalis), and it i.s recorded 

 that three species have been in the past included under one 

 name. These are D. sacc/iara/is, D. canella and D. lineolata. 

 The burning of trash is believed to drive away and destroy 

 many parasites and other natural enemies of these pests. 

 The moth borer (D. sacc/utralis) is a pest of canes in 

 Louisiana. On page 170 certain experiments proposed for the 

 control of this insect in that State by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture were outlined. 



The root borer of sugar-cane (Biaprepes ahhreviatus) 

 occurs as a pest in restricted localities in Barbados. An 

 account of this insect with figures of the grub and adult 

 appeared on page 2 IS; in this, the egg was described, and also 

 the habit of the adults of hiding in the leaves of Indian corn 

 and other plants, where they may be found and collected. 



The occurrence of a new sugarcane pest in Mauritius 

 was mentioned on page 314. This is an unidentified beetle, the 

 larva of which feeds on the roots of the sugar-cane, causing 

 serious injury. It is probably an introduced insect more 

 nearly related to the hard-backs and May beetles than to the 

 root -borer. 



CORN. The nioth borer, as a pest of Indian corn, was dis- 

 cussed on page 74, in a review of Circular No. 116 of the 

 Bureau of Entomology of the United States 1 )epartment of 

 Agriculture. This insect is known in the Southern States, 

 where it is a serious pest, as the larger corn-stalk borer. 



COTTON. On page 378, in an article entitled Xotes on the 

 Cotton Worm, the unusually severe outbreak of this pest in 

 the United States is mentioned. It is also recorded that 

 the cotton worm moth occurred at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Amherst, Massachusetts, in considerable numbers. 

 The question is raised as to whether these occurrences were 

 the re.sult of migration, or whether the insect has another food 

 filant beside cotton on which it can breed north of the cotton 

 belt. Eisperiraents with cotton stainers in Montserrat were 



recorded on page 1 3.s, and an account of the cotton stainer 

 of Trinidad, with methods of control, is given on page 394. 



OTHER CROPS. A fruit fly attacking cacao in Uganda is 

 recorded on page 26. The mango weevil {Cryptwyhnchus 

 mangi ferae) formed the subject of a brief note on page 58, 

 and of a somewhat larger one on page 282. The occurrence 

 of a Cecidomyiid fly on mangoes in St. Vincent was described 

 on page 10. A note on cocoa-nut pests appeared on page 138, 

 in which several insects are included in addition to those 

 previously recorded in the Agrirultural News. A note on 

 page 362 was entitled Some Insect Injuries to Ground Nuts. 



POLLINATION. Interesting examples of the part played 

 by insects in plant fertilization are given in the articles, Insect 

 Pollination of an Aroid Plant, p. 234; The Pollination of 

 Yucca Flowers, p. 250; and The Pollination of the Smyrna 

 Fig, p. 266. 



sc.\LE iN.sECTs. A note on the green scale (Coccus viridis) 

 in Ceylon, page 106, and an article on the Locomotion of 

 Young Scale Insects page 330, contained the only information 

 published during the y^ar in respect of scale insects, except 

 two, which had special reference to the control of these in.sects 

 by a natural enemy. These articles were entitled To Increase 

 the Numbers of the Black Scale Parasite ( p. 10), and the 

 Parasitism of the Black Scale. The black scale (Saissetiu 

 nigra) has been a severe pest of cotton, but its parasite, 

 Zalophothrix inirum,' has assumed a satisfactory control 

 over it (p. 202). 



INSECT DISEASES. On page 410, an account is given of 

 a bacterial disease of the grasshopper (Sc/iistocerca pallem) 

 in Yucatan, where it seems to be of considerable value in 

 reducing the numbers of the insect, which often occurs as 

 a pest in that country. 



TICKS. On page 314, the article Information Concerning 

 Ticks contains a general account of the injuries and losses 

 caused by these animal parasites, and also a list of the ticks 

 recorded from the West Indies, with their distribution as it 

 is known at present; this shows that much more information 

 in regard to these pests ought to be available. 



iJENEKAL. The article entitled The House-Fly and Man, 

 p. 330, reviews the danger to be apprehended from the house- 

 fly as a disease carrier, and suggests measures for controlling 

 this insect. The Insect N^utes headed An Insect New to the 

 West Indies record the occurrence of a borer {Bartocera 

 rubus) in trees, in St. Croix and Trinidad; they appeared on 

 page 106. .Mosquito-destroying fish in Lagos and Uganda 

 are briefly mentioned on page 346. 



On page 218, an article on Entomology in Southern 

 Nigeria refers to certain insect pests of crops which are the 

 same as, or similar to, the pests of the same crops in the 

 West Indies. The account of the control of the Argentine ant, 

 on page 346, describes the use of poison sugar bait which suc- 

 cessfully controlled the Argentine ant in a limited district. 



The article entitled Some Useful Insecticides, p. 378, 

 gives formulas for making .several preparations which have 

 been found to be of value in C!alifornia in the control of the 

 peach tree borer. 



On page 362, Pest Laws in Porto Piico are briefly 

 outlined. An illustrated article on Peripatus, that interesting 

 modern representative of the ancient ancestors of insects, is 

 given on page 186. 



A brief account of the organization and work of the En- 

 tomological Research Committee for Tropical Africa is given 

 on page 90. The article entitled The Control of Insect Pests, 

 p. 122, was taken from the first of a series of lectures by 

 d. Maxwell-Lefroy at the Imperial College of Science and 

 Technology, while on page 170 there is given an outline- of 

 the courses in Economic Entomology at this institution. 



