April, '13] VAN DINE: SUGAR CANE INSECTS 253 



the species for him as Gryllotalpa hexadactyla. Mr. Busck mentions 

 Diatrcea saccharalis Fabr. as being quite bad in some localities and he 

 records the weevil stalk-borer, Metamasius hemipterus Linn., under 

 the name Sphenophorus sexguttatus Drury. The sugar-cane mealy- 

 bug, Pseudococcus sacchari CklL, is included in Mr. Busck's report and, 

 in further reference to sugar-cane insects, he states that there is "a 

 lamellicorn larva common and destructive to the roots," referring no 

 doubt to the white-grub of the common May-beetle, Lachnosterna sp. 



In 1902 Mr. 0. W. Barrett published a bulletin dealing with the 

 mole cricket or "la changa" in Porto Rico.^ Mr. Barrett's bulletin 

 is a general account of the life-history, habits, food plants and methods 

 of control of the species in Porto Rico. 



In the annual report of the Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, Mayaguez, for the year 1906, Mr. W. V. Tower mentions 

 (page 28) the injury to sugar cane by the moth stalk-borer, Diatrcea 

 saccharalis Fabr. In the report of the same institution for the year 

 1907 (pages 36 and 37) Mr. Tower refers to mealy-bug injury to sugar 

 cane and records the shot-hole stalk- borer, Xylehorus sp., and the 

 weevil stalk-borer, Metamasius hemipterus Linn., under the name 

 Sphenophorus sp. May-beetle injury to cane is mentioned by Mr. 

 Tower in the report of the Mayaguez Station for the year 1909 (pages 

 25 and 26). In tl>e latter report Mr. Tower says: ''The larva of one 

 of the Lachnosterna beetles is causing a great deal of damage to the 

 roots of sugar cane; in many instances the tonnage of certain areas 

 has been decreased by its destructive work." 



The writer has recorded and discussed the insects affecting sugar 

 cane in Porto Rico in the 1st and 2d Annual Reports of this station.^ 

 The damage to sugar-cane juice by the moth stalk-borer, Diatrcea 

 saccharalis Fabr., was reported upon by the writer in a circular of this 

 station published in 1912.^ 



The following is a brief summary of all the species of insects found 

 affecting sugar cane during the two years the entomological investiga- 

 tions of this station have been in progress. The determinations have 

 been made, with few exceptions, by the specialists of the Bureau of 

 Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture, through the 

 kindness of Dr. L. 0. Howard, Chief of the Bureau. The entomo- 

 logical investigations of this station are in direct cooperation with 



1 The Changa, or Mole-Cricket {Scapterisciis didactylus Latr.) in Porto Rico. 

 Bui. 2, Porto Rico Agr. Expt. Sta., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1902, pp. 19, fig. 1. 



2 1st Ann. Rpt. (Bui. No. 1), Expt. Sta., Porto Rico Sugar Producers' Ass'n, 

 for the year 1910-1911, 1911, pp. 17-31. 



2d Ann. Rpt. (Bui. No. 2), Expt. Sta., Porto Rico Sugar Producers' Ass'n, for 

 the year 1911-1912, 1912, pp. 15-22. 



3 Circular No. 1, Expt. Sta., Porto Rico Sugar Producers' Ass'n, 1912, pp. 11. 



