390 Notes 



a considerable mass of perithecia must have dropped from the perithecial 

 patches. Many of these perithecia would doubtless lodge in the 

 crevices of the bark or between the bud scales, etc., and assuming 

 that these perithecia were mature ones capable of remaining dormant 

 through the winter, these would on liberating their ascospores infect 

 the adjacent berries. This is a theory to which he says on the whole 

 he inclines. It is of course a very old theory and was, I believe, advanced 

 by the Board in one of their earlier reports, but as I have never heard 

 of any case in which the spores were found in the crevices or scales 

 and as it has been shown that if the visibly affected wood is removed 

 and the bushes transplanted to uninfected soil no disease appears, 

 the theory appears to lack support and it seems to be at least as likely 

 that the reinfection each season is due to the winter fruit in the soil 

 or embedded in the mycelium and due to perithecia dehiscing in situ. 



A. G. L. EOaERS. 



EXOMIAS PELLUCIDUS AS A PLANT PEST. 



On May 14th, 1914, an enquiry was received from Charles Townsend, 

 Nurseryman, Fordham, concerning the damage done to a number 

 of plants by the weevil Exomias {Barypeiihes) pellucidus. A visit 

 was paid to the Nursery on May 16th and the weevils were found 

 there in enormous numbers. 



The plan of the nursery is on the opposite page: 



The Thousand heads, Kohl Rabis, Poppies and Nemophylas were all 

 eaten off so that the ground was bare. 



The CoUinsia bicolor and Candytuft were badly damaged and were 

 only saved by a heavy application of lime and soot. The plot con- 

 taining Gypsophila elegans escaped although situated in the middle 

 of the area attacked, so presumably this is not a suitable food for the 

 insect. 



Some of the trees were examined and a few of the weevils were 

 found feeding on the leaves of Acer inarginata aurea and A. negundo 

 variegata alba. The potatoes, peas and spruces were free from attack. 



Near the attacked area under the spruces large numbers of the 

 insects were found. 



There were some rabbit burrows on the nursery and from these 

 it was quite easy to take out a handful of the insects. They had 



