40 Journal of Agricultural Research voi. xix, no. i 



Fiji Islands. In 1912 H. A. Ballon (j, p. 112) reported the species as 

 doing serious damage to bananas in the Lesser Antilles. 



During 1914 T. Fletcher (4, p. 342-343, fig. 201) published records 

 of this species from southern India as existing in the regions of Malabar, 

 Caimbatore, Godavari, and Ganjam. In the same year Frank P. Jepson 

 (8), then working with the species in the Fiji Islands, where it is serious, 

 made a mission to Java in quest of the natural enemies of the species 

 and brought into the Fiji Islands some predatory beetles. He was suc- 

 cessful in introducing some histerid beetles which were keeping the 

 borers down in Java. 



Later in 191 6 Ballon {2) reported this insect as widely distributed in 

 the Tropics, it being found in Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, 

 and Trinidad in the West Indies; Brazil in South America; and the 

 Philippines, Fiji, Borneo, Sumatra, India, Queensland, and the Straits 

 Settlements in the East. 



Besides the localities cited, Frank P. Jepson {8) in 1914 recorded addi- 

 tional places where it is found: Java, Ceylon, New Guinea, Malacca, 

 Saigon, China, Raratonga, Reunion, Sikhim, North Bengal, Pequ, 

 Tenasserim, Andaman Islands, Sambak, and the Seychelles. 



In Florida investigations showed that the infested plantings at Larkins 

 had all been made four years previous to the discovery of the weevils, with 

 plants procured from a nursery in the northern part of Florida which 

 had, in turn, secured the plants from a nursery in southern Florida. In 

 March, 191 8, the weevils were found at the nursery in southern Florida, 

 and every effort was made to exterminate them. It may be that many 

 shipments of infested plants were made from this source, and it is very 

 important that every occurrence of this pest be located and eradicated. 

 Since the insect attacks sugar cane also it is not improbable that its 

 presence would seriously interfere in the future with the development of 

 large sugar and sirup industries. It is not known how this insect found 

 its way into Florida, but no doubt it came in with sprouts or young 

 plants introduced for propagation. 



HOST PLANTS 



According to published records there does not seem to be a great 

 variety of host plants. Cosmopolites sordidtis apparently having confined 

 itself thus far almost entirely to the banana, attacking all varieties. 

 The borer has been reported, however, as attacking sugar cane. In Fiji, 

 Jepson (7) states that the borer does not appear to display more partiality 

 for one variety of banana than another. 



CHARACTER OF THE INJURY 



The young suckers attacked by the borers wither and die in a very 

 short space of time. This is due to the feeding and tunneling of the 

 grubs or larvae between the lateral roots and the bulb (PI. 11, B), thus 

 cutting off the flow of sap to the plant. The banana plant has no central 



