i88 



sooner or later become vegetable refuse, which must be removed^ 

 Traps such as those described rbove, ;ire effective in direct propor- 

 tion to the cleanliness of the area in which they are. 



When many stumps have to be removed the cheapest method of 

 destroying them is by the use of explosive*. 



The Palm-weevil goes through its life-history more rapidly than 

 the Rhinoceros beetle; and it would seem that it should multiply 

 more rapidly, as the female can lay nearly 300 eggs within fifty days, 

 but that it is less in evidence is probably due to the circumstance 

 that it is so much more particular about its food ; it may be also 

 that it has more enemies, but this we do not know. In any case 

 it is to be remembered that an outbreak of it would be more rapidly 

 destructive than one of the Rhinoceros beetle. 



The female lays her eggs in living palm tissue, taking advantage 

 of wounds, of which the commonest are those made by the Rhinoceros 

 beetle; the mature beetles also feed on the p^dm tissu'\ If the female 

 finds no hole in the palm, she makes one for herself, but only ^4 to 

 % inch deep; into it she places one egg; if she finds a Rhinoceros 

 beetle tunnel she pushes eggs into its walls. The nearer to the heart 

 of the tree the eggs are placed, the more serious must the attack 

 be; the heart of the attacked palm is then tunnelled through b}' the 

 fat greedy grubs, and its top falls over, declaring the presence of 

 the invader only when the damage done is past repair. Though 

 the grubs may not be mature when this happens, they finish their 

 course in the tissues. The eggs may be laid also in palm tissues 

 commencing decay. 



Soft decaying palm-tissue should never be left lying about the 

 estates to the advantage of the beetle, neither of coconut palms, nor 

 in a general way of other large palms, for though there are palms in 

 which the tissues hold abundant needle-crystals, until a palm, what- 

 ever it be, has been proved unpalatable to the grubs, it should be 

 looked upon as possible food for the weevil. 



I. H. BURKILL. 



CLEROME GRACILIS, 



a Butterfly destructive to Palms. 



A social caterpillar with a yellow head, black body, densely 

 covered with long hairs which are rusty red above the base, and freely 

 come out, irritating the human skin, had been found doing damage to 

 Rhopaloblaste palms in the Botanic Gardens. It was reared to ma- 

 turity and proved to be Chrome gracilis Butler. 



The caterpillars, both when feeding and when resting, take line 

 from each other: they stand parallel on the lower surface of the leaf 

 that they are or have been eating. They feed at night and rest by 

 day. 



