314 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 



1905. 



INSECT NOTES. 



Insect Pests in Egypt. 



A small volume entitled ' Notes on some Egyptian 

 Insect Pests' by Mr. F. Fletclier, M.A., B.Sc, Deputy 

 Director of Agriculture, Bombay Presidency, gives brief 

 notes on general entomology and some of the more imiiortant 

 insect pests in Egypt. The author does not claim to have 

 prepared a complete hand-book either as to the number of 

 pests or their life-history, but he gives useful notes on the 

 most important pests and the remedies that have been found 

 most useful in dealing with them. This should bo 

 valuable to planters, and a guide to all interested in the 

 further study of Egyptian insect pests. 



The Cane-fly. 



In 1900 the cane-fly occurred on one estate in Barbados 

 in large numbers in the months of August, September, and 

 October. Reference was made to this outbreak in the West 

 Indian Bulletin, Vol. II, p. 43. Since that time no out- 

 break of this pest has occurred, and in 1903 and 1904 it was 

 so scarce that, although careful search was made, none of its 

 breeding places were found, and its presence in the island 

 was indicated only by a few adult insects captured from 

 time to time. Recently, however, a slight attack has been 

 observed on the same estate on which the canes were attacked 

 five years ago. 



The cane-tiy (DiljJia.r mcrharivora) is a small Heniip- 

 terous insect, closely related to the plant lice {Aphiif), the 

 white Hy {Aleijrode^), and the scale insects {Coccidae). 



The adult cane-fly is about i inch in length to the tip 

 of the wings, of a pale-green colour, which becomes lighter 

 toward the tip of the wings. The eyes are dark and con- 

 spicuous. The female is provided at the tip of the abdomen 

 with a sawlike ovipositor, by means of which a small slit is 

 cut in the epider)nis of tlie cane leaf, and the eggs are laid 

 in this slit, and the whole covered with a ma.ss of fiocculent 

 white wax. If this was be removed, the mass of eggs may 

 be seen embedded in the cane leaf. After the eggs have 

 hatched, the wound in the leaf is marked by a reddish spot. 



The young cane-rties are without wings. They move 

 very quickly when disturljcd, and seem to prefer to walk 

 side-wise or backwards rather than straight ahead. They 

 are to be found mostly on the under side of the cane leaf, 

 where they sometimes occur in great numbers. 



The cane-fly feeds by sucking the juice of the plant by 

 means of its proboscis in the same way that the plant lice 

 and scale insects and other Hemiptera feed. 



The first indication of an attack of the cane-fly will 

 generally be the abundance of 'black blight' on the cane 

 leaves. The masses of white wax covering the egg clusters 

 are also conspicuous when the plants are examined more 

 closely, and, later, a slight disturbance of the plants will set 

 a cloud of adults flying, and the numerous, small, red marks 

 on the leaves show where the eggs have been. 



Planters in Barbados do not consider the cane-fly 

 a serious pest. Even in 1900, when the pest occurred in 

 large numbers, the cane fields most infested are said to have 



given as good returns as other fields on the same estate only 

 slightly attacked. It does not seem likely, however, that 

 plants could support such an enormous number of insects 

 and still give a normal return of juice. In Hawaii the leaf 

 hopper of the cane {PerJcinsiella saccharicida), a closely 

 related insect with very similar habits, cau.ses great injury to 

 the sugar-cane. Reference was made to this pest in the Af/ri- 

 cultural News, Vol. Ill, p. 154. 



The cane-fly is attacked by several natural enemies, 

 which are probably responsible for the scarcity of the pest in 

 certain years. On the plants badly infested by the cane-fly 

 this year were seen the red lady-bird (Ci/doneda sani/uinea) 

 and numerous eggs of the lace-wing {Clirysrqia sp.). The 

 wild bee (Polistes aniiuluris) was also frequently seen, 

 aiiparently searching for food, but was not observed to eat 

 any of the cane-flies. 



It would be useful if any other outbreaks of the cane- 

 flj- in the West Indies were reported to the Imi^erial 

 Department of Agriculture, in order that more complete 

 records may be made of the occurrence of this pest and the 

 damage done by it. 



Hair-follicle Mite of Pigs. 



The hair-follicle mite is a microscopic animal that lives 

 in the skin at the base of the hairs. It is closely related to 

 the ticks and itch mites, and different species or varieties 

 infest ditterent animals. The variety attacking man causes 

 the spots in the skin of the face, commonly called ' black- 

 heads,' while the varieties found on the dog and on the hog 

 produce a serious disease. A variety occurring on cattle 

 sometimes damages the hides so as to render them unsaleable. 



A portion of the skin of a hog was recently sent to the 

 office of the Imperial Department of Agriculture from the 

 Barbados slaughter house by Dr. Stoute. This was 

 seriously affected with the hair-follicle mite of the hog 

 {Deiitodftx folliculorwn suis). Each infested hair-follicle 

 was enlarged to form a cavity which contained a mass of 

 semi-fluid matter in which the mites were found in large 

 numbers. These masses were of a greyish or yellowish 

 colour, varying in size, some of them so small as to be 

 hardly visible, to about \ inch in diameter. 



This is not a common pest in these islands, so far as 

 is known, and it is interesting that the first case to attract 

 attention should be one in which the infestation was so very 

 comjilete, occurring, as it did, in the skin on all parts of the 

 body. It is not believed that this parasite is transmissible 

 to man, nor that it afltcts any part of the flesh so as to 

 render it unfit for use as food, provided the skin and the 

 parasites be carefully removed. 



In the event of a serious infestation by this parasite the 

 use of washes and dips, such as are recommended for 

 controlling cattle ticks, would probably be found useful. 

 (See A <jti cultural Nefs, Vol. Ill, p. 247.) 



Corn Ear Worm. In the Agricultural News (Vol. 

 lA', p. 90) it was suggested that the corn ear worm might be 

 controlled by sprinkling into the crown of th-i plant a mixture 

 of Paris green and corn meal. Recently, several planters 

 have reported good residts from dusting the corn with Paris 

 green and lime in exactly the same way as cotton is dusted 

 for the cotton worm. The eggs of the corn ear worm are laid 

 on the under side of the leaf of the young corn, and the 

 caterpillars feed there for some time before entering the 

 crown of the plant, and Paris green applied at this time 

 kills them before any damage is done. 



