208 Notes 



grain — notably of maize — from America where it has proved a serious 

 pest. In the warmer countries of the world it breeds in the open, in the 

 grain fields, but in temperate regions its increase is confined to ware- 

 houses, etc., in which the temperature remains fairly high. It was 

 therefore a surprise when, in October, 1918, two specimens of the moth 

 emerged from some ears of barley grown on a small experimental plot 

 near Kew. The pupae from which the moths had emerged were dis- 

 covered in the ears and from the circumstances under which the latter 

 were obtained there is no doubt but that the eggs must have been laid 

 on the standing crop in the field. The probable explanation is that 

 moths had emerged from infested grain on ojie of the barges passing up 

 the Thames and by chance had discovered the barley. There is little 

 likelihood of the species becoming a field pest in the British Isles but its 

 breeding in the open is perhaps worth putting on record. 



3. Anthonomus poinorum, L. 



There seems to be a need for further observations on ths habits of the 

 adult beetles of this species during the time which elapses between their 

 emergence from the pupae and their entry into hibernation. Among other 

 points the extent to which the msects feed seems to haVe been disputed 

 and it may therefore be of interest to record that in captivity a number 

 of the weevils fed actively on apple foliage, attacking the undersides of 

 the leaves but leaving the upper cuticle and the veins. On the other hand 

 beetles kept without food all died. While dealing with Anthononms it 

 may also be worth recording that the beetles on which the above 

 notes were made were obtained as larvae and pupae from an orchard in 

 Hereford wliich was very seriously attacked. No accurate attempt was 

 made to record the percentage of weevils killed by the parasite Pimpla 

 pomonitti Ratz., but it was certainly less than 1 per cent, in marked 

 contrast to figures obtained from a Cambridgeshire sample recorded 

 by Imms in a previous number of this Journal (vol. iv, p. 211). 



4. Phyllohius urticae, De,(^., and P. oblongus, L. 



For several years about thirty acres of strawberries on a large fruit 

 plantation in Hereford have suffered very seriously from the attacks of 

 weevil larvae at the roots, the damage in one year being estimated at 

 £1000. Examples of the larvae were examined in March, 1919, and 

 although they exhibited minor differences which appeared to sej^arate 

 them from Oiiorrhi/nchus snlcalus, F. and 0. picipes, F. they were 

 nevertheless attributed to that genus. On May 15th, however, adults 

 began to app<'ar in the breeding cages and in all cases proved lo be 



