﻿xvu 



ferred their attacks from native Delphacids to the cane leaf- 

 hopper. 



The ubiquitous lady-bird {Cocciiiclla repanda) is valuable as a 

 destroyer of leaf-hopper, though originally imported by Koe- 

 bele to destroy Aphis. It is hoped that other lady-birds, espe- 

 ciallv Vcraiiia sfrii^iila (:=/'. liiicola of Pt. V\l) may become es- 

 tablished and do g-ood work, as in .\ustralia and iMJi, whence 

 they were imported. 



The earwig' Chclisoclics inor'm is a local s[)ecies, ])ut no doubt 

 useful where it exists in numbers. 



The green cricket {Xipliidiiiin I'aripciinc) is very valual)le, but 

 is most unfortunately heavil\- atlacl<ed at certain seasons b}- an 

 eg'g-parasite. 



The Dryinid llchilin>dcl['hax faiirliildii is locally valuable. .\t 

 certain seasons in suitable, but limited, localities, it destroys a 

 considerable percentage of hop])ers. Its services are under- 

 estimated, because for a large jiart of the year it lies as a dor- 

 mant larva in the cocoon, and parasitized hoppers at such a time 

 are naturally hardly to l)e found. 



There are many other natural enemies of more or less im- 

 portance, e. g. the various predaceous Hemiptera, and the sev- 

 eral lace-wing flies (Chrysopinae). 



In addition to these insect enemies, we must mention the two 

 fungous diseases of hoppers (amounting locally and at certain 

 seasons to epidemics) which, long previously known to kill the 

 native leaf-hoppers, have become transferred to the introduced 

 l)est. We also found one or more fungous diseases attacking 

 leaf-hopper eggs in Fiji and Australia in all localities. With 

 material imported from these countries, I easily inlected eggs 

 of the cane leaf-hopper under cover, and subsequently estab- 

 lished the fungus at large in the held. As it was luost probable 

 that parasitized and healthy hopper eggs would be afifected 

 alike by the disease, and consequently many of the egg-parasites 

 would be destroyed, it became a subject of discussion whether 

 we should attempt to establish the fungus or not. As, however, 

 throughout Australia, the fungus and parasite both attacked 

 the eggs, Mr. Koebele was of opinion that we should try and 

 establish the same conditions here. Consecjuently with the first 

 cages sent to the plantations the cane cuttings and the cane 

 itself were well sprayed with water containing spores of the fun- 

 gous disease, so that these would l)e certainly carried abroad by 

 the emerging hoppers and parasites. I imagine there is no 

 doubt as to this disease becoming established in all suitable 

 localities. 



