154 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 20, 1905. 



INSECT NOTES. 



Lice on Hogs. 



A correspondfnt in Barbados has sent to the Head 

 Office of the Imi)erial Department of Agriculture sjiecimens 

 of insects found on hogs, with the information that they are 

 very numerous and the hogs suffering considerably from the 

 attack. 



Examination of the specimens shows this insect to be 

 the hog louse {Haematnpiniis ut-iiis). It is (juite distinct from 

 the ticks, being a true in.sect of the natural order Hemiptera, 

 and related to the true bugs, plant lice (ai'lndes), scale 

 in.sects, etc. 



The hog louse like other true lice, has sucking mouth 

 parts and lives upon the blood of its host. This insect has 

 been known for a long time and in many countries. When 

 its attack is very severe the pigs lose flesh and appear thin 

 and uidiealthy. 



The remedies recommended are contact insecticide-; 

 such as, tobacco water, dilute carbolic acid, kerosene enmlsion, 

 etc., used as washes or sprays. Fine dust, powdered 

 charcoal, or ashes applied to the necks and backs of the 

 animals, or, better, put where they can roll in them, are very 

 useful and will generallj- serve to keep the lice in check. 

 Cleanliness in the pens and sheds, also, will be a great aid in 

 keeping the hogs free frrpm this in.sect. 



Hercules Beetle and the Twig Girdler. 



Much [ifipular interest is usually attached to the larger 

 forms of insect life and to those forms that from their bright 

 colour, or the peculiar modifications of their appendages, are 

 out of the ordinary. One of the somewhat extraordinary 

 insects of the tropics, both from its great size and its 

 peculiar structure, is the Hercules beetle {Di/nasles hercules) 

 common at Dominica. This beetle has an average total 

 length of about 7 inches, with a range from 4i to 9-J 

 inches. From the toi> of the thorax a long horn projects 

 forward curving slightly downward, while from the front 

 of the head a shorter horn, curving upward, reaches to 

 about its middle. It has long been a iio))uUir tradition 

 that the hercules beetle clasped these horns on a small 

 twig and then, by means of its wings, whirled round and 

 round till the twig was cut off. In the Agricultural Kcit's 

 (Vol. II, p. 264) this tradition was mentioned, and the 

 statement made that entomologists had long known that 

 it was impcssiblc for the hercules beetle to cut off twigs in 

 this manner. It was further stated that specimens of the 

 beetle were at hand which daes cut off the twigs of certain 

 trees. This insect has recently been identified as Onciderts 

 amputitfar. The members of this genus are all twig 

 girdlers. The female beetle lays an egg in the bark 

 of the twig, and then with her strong mandibles gnaws it 

 round and round until only a little wood is left in the 

 centre. The wind breaks off the twig at this place and 

 the egg is carried to the ground when it falls. The larva 

 hatching from the egg feeds on the substance of the twig as 

 it decays. 



In this way the twigs of the ' pois doux ' and 'saronetta' 



are cut off l.>y the twig girdler, but not by the hercules 

 beetle. 



It might lie mentioned that a new species of Dynastes 

 {Di/nasfex vulcan) has recently been named and described by 

 ilr. A. H. Verrill, of Dominica. This is somewhat similar 

 in appearance to the liercules beetle, but is smaller, about 

 4 inches in length, and the .shape of the horns is quite 

 different. 



Entomology at the Cape of Good Hope. 



The report of the Government Entomologist of the 

 Cape of Good Hope for the first half of 1904 gives a review 

 of the entomological work for that period and outlines 

 a plan for future efl'orts. The work on the relation of ticks 

 to diseases of animals is being carried on, and results are 

 given of experiments with African Coast fever of cattle and 

 the Brown tick and with heartwater and the ordinary Blue 

 tick. With regard to this latter, it has been proved that 

 cattle nnd Persian sheep are subject to the disease, while 

 horses are not, and that the Persian sheep have it in a mild 

 form only. 



The Assistant Entomologist (now Eastern Province 

 Entomologist) contributes a paper on 'Insects affecting 

 Mealies' {Zea Jfai/f) the jirincipal of nhich is the stalk borer 

 {Scmiiiia fusca). The chief remedy recommended is the 

 clearing of the fields of stalks at once after the harvest and 

 ensilaging or shredding the stalks, to kill the hibernating 

 larvae. 



Insects affecting fruit also receive attention. The chief 

 of the.se is the Fruit Fly. This is the insect, the parasites of 

 which have been found in Brazil and have been taken to 

 Australia. As was mentioned in the A'jricidtural Neu's, 

 Vol. IV, p. 124, the Government Entomologists of the Cape 

 of Good Hope and Xatal had started on a visit to Brazil for 

 the purjiose of procuring some of these valuable insects for 

 their respective colonies. 



The rejport concludes with a proclamation and schedule 

 regulating the importation of i>lants into Cape Colony. 



SISAL HEMP FROM THE CAICOS 

 ISLANDS. 



The Imperial Coimiiissioner of Agriculture recently 

 forwarded to Messrs. Ide & Christie, the well-known 

 fibre brokers of Mark Lane, London, a sample of sisal 

 fibre from the Caicos Islands \\ith the request to be 

 favoured with an opinion as to the quality and value of 

 this fibre as compared with similar fibre from Yucatan 

 and tlie Bahamas. The fibre had been sent b}' the 

 Connnissioner of the Turks Islands, who wrote: 'It is 

 fiom the East Caicos Co.'s plantation and is cut from 

 plants only twenty-tu'o montlis old. I think it would 

 be hard to beat the fibre anywhere at the age: it is 

 strong, of good length, and bright in colour.' 



The report, dated April 25, 1905, received b_v the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture from Messrs. 

 Ide & Christie, is as follows : — 



Vour favour of 4th. inst. and sample of Caicos I.slands 

 sisal hemp duly to hand. Shipments from time to time 

 have come to London and .sold fairly well. We find the 

 type of good preparation but the length somewhat shortish,, 

 and the colour yellow ; we have seen better and worse from 

 these parts, as also the Bahamas; compared, however, with 

 the Mexican, excepting in the length, we consider the East 

 Caicos Co.'s production superior, and we value such here 

 to-day X34 per ton. 



