INSECTS ETC. INJURIOUS TO VARIOUS CROPS IO59 



as the larvae hatch they gnaw away the outer seed^cover, and through the 

 caruncle or at any point of the seed they enter the cotyledons which they 

 gnaw and crush easily with their strong biting jaws. The injury the\ thus 

 cause is very serious, and in the case of extensive infestations the loss niav 

 be 50 % or even 75 % of the entire crop. 



Unfortunately no natural enemies of this metnber of "he CurcuUuiiidac 

 are yet known. Resort must therefore be had to artificial means of control 

 Among the most effective there are recommended : i) disinfecting the 

 ground by injections of carbon disulphide ; these injections must be made 

 immediately after the crop, to the amount of jo to 50 cc. of liquid per 

 square metre ; this destroys the larvae and pupae, but care must be used and 

 the necessary precautions taken in the neighbourhood of any trees ; 

 2) bean cultivation should be replaced by some other for some years; this 

 is advisable when feasiV^le economically, and may be made so if all the 

 farmers of the region without exception arrange to take this step, 



833 - Ligyrus fossator and L. fossor, Coleoptera attacking Sugar Cane, in Brazil. 



— Chacaras c Qiiintacs, Vol. XIII, No. 4, pp. 24«-J4ij, I'ig. 1-S3. St. I'aiil, April 15, i<)i6. 



The northern vStates of the Brazil Union have for a long time deplored 

 the grave injur}'- caused to sugar cane plantations from time to time by coleo- 

 ptera called " bezouros dos cannaviaes", sometimes causing destruction of 

 the crop. Dr. Carlos Moreira, chief of the Laboratory of Entomology of 

 the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro, was instructed by the Ministry of 

 Agriculture to study these insects. His researches at Pernambuco proved 

 that the "bezouros" of the sugar cane plantations are numerous, but 

 that the most injurious of all is Ligyrus fossator Dejan, the larvae of 

 which, called at Pernambuco " pao de gallinhas " because hens are very 

 fond of them, live in the soil and gnaw all the rooted fragments of cane 

 within their reach. This same parasite of the sugar cane has already 

 been reported in French Guiana. 



There are advised as means of control : i) injections of carbon di- 

 sulphide ; 2) flooding and subsequent drying of the soil ; 3) turning over 

 the soil and collecting all the larvae by hand ; 4) use of light traps for 

 capturing the adults. 



A sure and cheap means for destroying a large of number of larvae is 

 based on the fact that after hea\'y rains pools of water form in the lower 

 parts of the plantation. The larvae beneath die of asphyxia. When the 

 pool dries up, the larvae gather at its edges in search of moisture. They 

 may then be destroyed in large numbers by burning straw at the point 

 where the moisture has barely disappeared. In order to destroy the lar- 

 vae farther away from the surface, the ground must be flooded or watered 

 with distillery residue, or carbon disulphide injected. 



At AUagcas the sugar cane is also injured by another coleopterous 

 insect Ligyrus Jossor Latr., which is controlled in the same way. 



The sugar cane is also attacked by scale insects which live on the culm, 

 chiefly beneath the leaf sheaths, and which cause extensive damage when 

 they get near to the rooted cane fragment or pass into the roots. To destroy 



