202 



A MANUAL OF DANGEROUS INSECTS. 



Xyleborus perforans WoUaston. 

 (Sugar-Cane Ambrosia Beetle. Scolytidse; Coleoptera.) 



Hosts: Sugar cane, a polyphagous insect breeding in many kinds of wood. 



Injury: Is very injurious to sugar cane in Java. As it bores in the stalks it can easily 

 be transported in shipments of seed cane. 



Description and biology: Adult weevils about 2 mm. long, cylindrical, without snout, 

 the head completely concealed from above. Pupa white, about 2 mm. long with head 

 and all appendages on the underside. Larva cylindrical, white, legless, with chiti- 

 nizedhead. IJores in the pith of the stalk. E'grgfs elliptical. About 70 to 100 eggs are 

 laid by the parent, each at the end of a separate chamber. 



Distribution: Java, cosmopolitan in the tropics and subtropics. 

 Van Deventer, W. Handboek, voor de Suikerriet-cultuur, Java, 1906, vol. 2, pp. 



60-66, pi. 8. 

 SoRAUER, P. Ilandljuch der PHauzenkrankheiten, 'M ed.. 1913, vol. 3, pp. 573-574. 



FiK- 97.— Cane-sucker moth ( Castnia licus). (Ballon.) 



Castnia Ileus Drury. 



(Cane-Sucker Moth: Giant Sugar Cane Borer. Castniidse; Lepidoptera.) 



Hosts: Sugar cane, banana, coconut, orchids, and Bromeliaceae. 



Injury: Very serious borer in cane stalks. AVhen cane is to be imported from sec- 

 tions where this species occurs great care should be used to eliminate trash. Only the 

 tops should be shipped, and these should be carefully examined for eggs or larvte at the 

 base of the leaveS. 



Description and biology: Moth measuring over 3 inches in wing expanse, brown with 

 a white band crossing each wing and a few yellow spots beyond . Pupa reddish brown, 

 over an inch in length. Larva whitish, about 2 inches long, with reddish brown head. 

 Bores in the stalks of its food plants. Eggs laid singly, pinkish, elongate, pointed at 

 each end, ribbed, in cross section formed like a five-pointed star. Over 50 eggs are 

 laid by each moth. (See text fig. 97.) 



Distribution: British Guiana, Dutch Guiana, Trinidad, and other parts of northern 

 South America. 



Urich, F. W. The Cane Sucker. 2 pp., with colored plate. 

 Marlatt, C. L. Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bui. 54, 1905, pp. 71-75, 



pi. 4. 



