434 FAMILY CUKCULIONIDAE 



of resin exuding from the holes of mature beetles which have found their way 

 out of the trees. It is by means of these resin masses (which in badly infested 

 older poles and large trees thickly coat the bark, more especially in the 

 regions where the side branches take off from the main stem) that an attack 

 can be marked down. 



As in the case of young trees in plantations, so in that of older trees 

 in the forest, the only plan to prevent the attack spreading to uninfested 

 trees is to cut out the infested ones, strip off the bark, and burn it. To 

 be satisfactory this must be done at the periods when the insect is in 

 the larval and immature-beetle stage. This, in the Western Himalaya, 

 would be towards the end of May, middle of August, or during the long 

 winter period of hibernation. In fact, where possible, I should always advise 

 remedial measures against this pest being undertaken during the period of 

 hibernation. At this season there are no beetles on the wing in the forest, 

 so that it is possible to ensure killing off the whole of the insects which are 

 responsible for the dying condition of the trees, thus clearing effectually a 

 plantation or an area of forest from the pest. 



In the case of severe infestations of the weevil the provision of trap trees 

 is recommended, the trees to be felled and barked as soon as they are full 

 of larvae. This operation will require careful watching and inspection in 

 localities where the generations of the insect overlap, and it may be found 

 necessary to burn or completely char the stems of the trees after felling, 

 instead of barking them. Barking will not be sufficient to kill semi-mature 

 or " resting " beetles. These w^ould simply fall into the undergrowth, mature 

 there, and in time carry on the infestation. 



It must be borne in mind, however, that it will be of little use clearing 

 one set of infested areas of the beetles if other affected areas in the neighbour- 

 hood are left untended. And this applies more particularly to the Kumaun 

 P.longifolia forests. In this region there are a number of district forests 

 which are not under the management of the Forest Department,* and through 

 which annual fires are allowed to run unchecked, and mutilation of the 

 forest growth on the area takes place. It is in such areas that the weevil 

 has the greatest scope for increasing rapidly, for it finds here large numbers 

 of trees weakened by fire and mutilation which serve it as exceptionally 

 fine breeding-places. I personally examined several areas of this kind in 

 1909, in all of which I found the weevil in abundance. It is probable that the 

 greatest difficulty to be faced in endeavouring to prevent the spread of this 

 pest on a large scale throughout the P. lowgifolia forests confronts one in the 

 presence of these areas of fire-swept and mutilated forests of Naini Tal and 

 the Kumaun districts. Not only do these areas serve as breeding-grounds of 

 the weevil, but they are equally favourable to the multiplication of the 

 buprestids Capnodh and Anthaxia, the Notlwrrhina longicorn beetle (pp. 202, 

 212, 281), and the dangerous Nodna moth bast-eating caterpillar. 



* I understand that these areas have now Ijeen placed in charge of the Department. 



