THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 587 



of honey or sweetened water with a leaf enclosed for the purpose of 

 supplying the proper amount of moisture, was most successful for his 

 purposes. Cold-storage was found to be of practically no value in this 

 particular instance. 



Several hymenopterous parasites of the groups Braconiclce, Procto- 

 trypoidea and Chalcidoidea were found and brought to the Islands in 

 a living condition. 



The Hawaiian entomologists have been leaders in this sort of work 

 and have carried it on with much vigor, and with Dr. Silvestri to do the 

 collecting, it would seem as though the project should be made a success 

 if the thing can be done. One of the great difficulties with which it is 

 necessary to contend is the fact that the parasites so far discovered, 

 with one exception, are unable to reach the maggots when they occur 

 deep beneath the skin of large fruit .such as oranges. The exception 

 mentioned above, is a parasite found by Dr. Silvestri on this trip, which 

 oviposits within the egg of the fruit fly. The maggot hatches from the 

 egg and bores into the fruit, but no matter how deeply beneath the 

 surface it goes it still bears within its body the larvae of the parasite 

 and will be destroyed before it becomes mature. This parasite would 

 seem to be the most promising of all, and it is to be hoped can success- 

 fully be introduced into the islands and thnt it will thrive in that 

 climate. The growers of this State should follow closely the work of the 

 Hawaiian entomologists, as any reduction in the abundance of fruit 

 flies in the islands means a reduction in our chances of getting it in 

 California. The Mediterranean fruit fly seems to be one of the few 

 insects for the control of which there is little hope in artificial methods, 

 and for this reason Hawaii is abundantly justified in sparing no efl'orts 

 to secure and establish natural enemies of this pest. 



The complete report of Dr. Silvestri on this mission will be published 

 by the Hawaiian Government during the coming year, and should be 

 obtained by all who are interested. 



THE BRANCH AND TWIG BORER. 



{Polycaon confertus Lee.) 

 Order — Coleoptera. Family — Bostrychidae. 



By E. O. EssiG, Secretary State Commission of Horticulture, Sacramento, Cal. 



Summary. 



1. Considerable damage is often done to young trees by the branch 

 and twig borer {Polycaon confertus Lee). 



2. This beetle is not likely to continue destructive enough in any one 

 locality for a period of years to warrant the expense of control. 



3. The presence of the beetle is characterized by smooth, round 

 burrows which are usually located in the axils of the buds or small 

 branches or by the broken twigs caused by these burrows. 



4. The insects are slender, brown beetles, averaging from three to 

 five eights of an inch long. 



5. Control measures consist in cutting out and burning infested twigs 

 and in destroying the beetles in their shallow burrows with a wire. 



