410 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



December 29, 1906. 



INSECT NOTES. 



Larger Moth Borer of the Sugar-cane. 



Accounts of the larger moth borer of the siiojar- 

 cane (Castnia licus) have been published in previous 

 numbers of the Arjricidtvral Nrv-n (Vol. Ill, p. 42(3, 

 and Vol. IV, p. 2(i), and in the West Indian Bulletin 

 (Vol. VI, pp. 41-7). 



This insect appeared as a pest of cane at plantation 

 Enmore in British Guiana in 1904, where it was the cause of 

 a considerable amount of damage. 



Previous to that time, little was known as to its habits. 

 It was recorded as occurring throughout Central America, in 

 South America, and in Trinidad. The recorded food plants 

 were species of Orchidaceae and Bromeliareae, in South 

 America, while it had been known as a borer in the banana 

 in Trinidad. Mr. O. W. liarrett, late Entomologist and 

 Pathologist, at the Porto Rico Experiment Station, writing to 

 the Entomologist on the staff of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, stated that he had known Castnia licm in 

 jNIexico, but not as a pest of cultivated plants. 



Cantnia licus has recentlj' been reported as attacking 

 canes in Trinidad in connexion with the outbreak of the 

 frog-hopper {Tomasjy's sp.) recently recorded in the A;;/i-i- 

 ciiltnral j.Vfic.s (Vol. V, p. 330). 



Bulletin .54 of the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, gives an account of C'istni/i Ucus under 

 the title 'Giant Sugar-cane Borer,' with illustrations of the 

 insect in its different stages. 



The occurrence of Castnia licus as a borer of canes in 

 Tiinidad may indicate that it is travelling northward, with 

 a chance that it will later become distributed in the i-slaiids 

 of the Lesser Antilles. The moth borer {Diatraea Mcchamlis) 

 was first described from South America, and is now known as 

 a pest in the United States, having travelled northward 

 through these i-slands. If Castnia tirus can breed as far 

 north as Mexico, it should have no difficulty in living and 

 reproducing in these islands. 



This possibility would seem to furnish a strong argu- 

 ment in favour of extreme strictness in importing cane plants 

 from localities where Castnia licus occurs into those where it 

 ■does not. 



Insects from Montserrat. 



Mr. W. Kobson, Curator of the Botanic Station, 

 Montserrat, forwarding two species of insects to the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, writes : — 



'Xo. 1 is found on the French guava {Cassia occidentalis), 

 to which it is apparently attracted by the honey dew or other 

 secretion from the leaves and seed-pods, and does not seem to 

 damage the plant in any way.' 



This insect is a beetle of the family Larapyridae to 

 which many of the smaller fire-tiies belong. The Lampyridae 

 are mostly small or medium-sized insects, with soft bodies, 

 and long, sawdike antennae. The species from Jlontserrat is of 

 a bright brick-red colour on the prothorax, basal half of the 



wing-covers and the basal half of the femora, while the head,_ 

 antennae, apical half of wing-covers, and legs, except the basal 

 half of the femora, are all of a metallic blue, brighter on the 

 wing-covers than on the legs. The thorax and abdomen have 

 the red colouration except the last segment of the abdomen, 

 wliich is blue. The beetle is about i- inch in length and the 

 antennae are about the same length. 



This is a very handsome and showy insect, and is 

 probably not a pest to agriculture. 



Mr. Itobson states that no. 2 is found on the French 

 cotton {Calotropis procera), but he is not able to say whether 

 it does any damage. 



This is Oncojyeltus fasciatus, an insect which has 

 previously been recorded from St. Lucia and Dominica, and 

 in a recent note in the Agricultural Neivs (Vol. V, p. 378) 

 was reported as having been identified from Briti-sh Guiana, 

 where its food plant is given as the wild ipecacuanha 

 {Asclepias curassavica). Although somewhat resembling the 

 cotton stainers in general appearance, it is not very 

 closely related, belonging as it does to the family Lygaeidae. 



CASSAVA STARCH IN JAMAICA. 



In thu report on the Government Laboratory in 

 Jamaica, Mr. H. II. Cousins, M. A., makes the following 

 reference to the prospects of the cassava starch industry 

 in that colony : — 



This Department has now been studying the possibilities 

 of the cassava as a starch producer for three years, and it has 

 been proved that this [ilant is cajiable of giving enormous 

 yields of starch ujion soils in dry districts that would not grow- 

 other crops for export. 



The starch content of the tubers fluctuates with the 

 vegetative condition of the plant, and great variations have 

 been found between the yield and maturation of the different 

 varieties. 



Two starch factories are now in operation, and it is 

 hoped that a valuable and stable industry may be added to 

 the resources of the colon}-, and this without displacing a ton 

 of sugar, a bunch of bananas, or a pound of any other article 

 of export. It is manifest that the success of the cassava 

 starch industry would be a direct gain and serve to bring into 

 profitable cultivation large tracts of land in the zone of light 

 rainfall at present of very small agricultural value. 



CARRIACOU LAND SETTLEMENT SCHEME. 



Partieidars as to the Land Settlement Scheme in 

 Carriacou were given in the Agricidtiiral News 

 (Vol. IV, p. .57). The position and results of the scheme 

 are reviewed in the Annvxd Colonial Report on 

 Grenada for 1906, with the following conclusions: — 



It is not too much to claim for the scheme that it has 

 infused new- life into Carriacou, which for too many lont^ 

 years had suffered through the absence of proprietors and the 

 collapse of the sugar industry. It has now an assured future, 

 in which the cotton and lime industries are bound to play an 

 important part, and if capital were available to develop some 

 of the larger estates side by side with the peasant proprietors' 

 cultivation, Carriacou might become one of the most 

 prosperous of the minor British po.ssessions in the Vv''est 

 Indies. 



The succe.ss of this scheme of land settlement ha.s been 

 so great, and its beneficial results are already so marked, as to 

 encourage the hope of similar developments in the future, 

 both in Carriacoit and elsewhere in these islands. 



