588 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



great majority of very destructive species have been introduced from various foreign 

 sources. Notes are given on the insects which are likely to be introduced and on the 

 means of distribution of injurious insects among the West Indian Islands. The 

 author recommends the prohibition of special importations, the destruction of infested 

 plants upon arrival, and the treatment of all imported plants by fumigation or some 

 other method. 



Certain leaf-eating caterpillars of the sugar cane, W. van Deventek ( Mrdcd. 

 Frocfstat. Suikerriet West Java, 1902, No. 56, pp. 12, pi. 1). — Descriptive notes are 

 given on Pnm2^hila atigias, Hi'i<prrin pMlino, II. inathias, and H. conjwicta. 



Cane borer (Diatraea saccharalis), W. C. Stubbs and H. A. Morgan {Loimiana 

 Sins. Bui. 70, '2. ser., pp. 885-927 j Jigs. 11). — Notes are given on the history of this 

 insect in the Southern States and its general distribution. Circular letters were sent 

 to cane growers in the various parts of the State, the replies to which indicate that 

 the borer is at present distributed chiefly in the parishes of Assumption, Ascension, 

 and Iberville on the east and west banks? of the Mississippi. Various remedial meas- 

 ures are practised ))y the cane growers, but the most effective one is burning all of 

 the trash. The details of the life history of this insect were worked out in both 

 cane and corn, the 2 most important food plants of the species. It was found that 

 the larva; which emerge from eggs in November do not pupate until the following 

 March or April, while in July the larval period is usually from 25 to 28 days. This 

 prolongation of the larval period is of considera]>le importance in combating the 

 insect. The pupal condition is always spent in the cane stalk. About 87 per cent 

 of the moths appear before April 15. In the corn plant the borers destroy the ter- 

 minal leaves. It is believed by the authors that the corn plant is largely responsible 

 for the increase of the sugar-cane borer in the State. 



In combating this insect it is important to remember that the moths can not escape 

 from buried cane; the borer, therefore, can not increase its distribution from fall- 

 planted cane, unless the tops are left upon the ground undestroyed. The windrow- 

 ing of canes is condemned as a practice which allows the extensive distribution of 

 the insect. The cane tops or other material in which the borer may be found should 

 either be buried or burned. During the author's experiments 100 stalks of cane were 

 buried at different depths, varying from 6 in. to i in. The results indicate that in 

 some soils many of the borers died and that the moths were unable to escape, even 

 when the cane was buried to a depth of 5 in. It is reconmiended that neither corn 

 nor a second crop of sugar cane be planted on windrowed ground until the borers 

 have been eradicated. The cutting out of infested stalks of corn and cane may be 

 accomplished without any great expense. In one instance 2,000 acres were thus 

 treated at an expense of |il70. The chief natural enemies of the sugar-cane borer 

 are the larvte of Cliauliognathus marginatus and Drasterins elegans; ants and an 

 unidentified white fungus have also been observed attacking this insect. 



The turnip sawfly and injuries caused by this insect in the vicinity of 

 Paris in 1901 , 1\ Marchal {Ann. Min. Agr. [France'\,21 {1902), No. 2, pp. 295-304, 

 Jigs. 2). — Descriptive biological and economic notes are given on ^</iaKa spm«m?n. 

 The insect is injurious to all cultivated members of the mustard family and to various 

 wild species of this family. In the adult stage it lives not longer than 15 days. The 

 injury is caused by the larvae, which skeletonize the leaves. There are 2 generations 

 per year, the first generation of adults appearing in May and the second in August. 

 This species of sawfly is found in England, Continental Europe, and as far east as 

 Japan. It has appeared in large numbers, causing unusual destruction at various 

 times. The invasion of 1901 was attended with great destruction to cruciferous 

 plants. In some localities crows are useful in destroying this insect. A number of 

 other birds, particularly ducks, feed upon the insect. It is also attacked l)y various 

 parasites and by a bacterial disease. The remedies which are recommended for 



