98 E. P. Stebbing — Exhibition of some Jute rope. [June, 



The casings shown were made of the white thorns of the Babul 

 (Acacia arabica ; L.) ; and in a few of them extra thorns had been cut and 

 attached outside the regular casing by the blunt ends in such a way as 

 to stand out at angles varying up to 45°. The casing, so made more 

 spiny, may be more forbidding to a hungry bird, but mast be parti- 

 cularly inconvenient to the worm which carries it through the forks of 

 the small branches in search of food. 



"Where the extra spines had been added, it seemed to have been 

 done in an attempt to lengthen the casing. Two worms had only added 

 one extra spine each, but one worm had added eleven outside the fifteen 

 which made its proper casing. 



The Natural History Secretary, Mr. Stebbing, exhibited some Jute 

 rope attacked by beetles and grubs, the external surface of the strands 

 of the rope being pitted with shot holes. The insects performing this 

 work are species of Sitodrepa, being closely allied to the well-known 

 book- worm pest, Sitodrepa yanicea, L., which bores little shot holes into 

 books in our libraries, usually, guided by some unerring iustinct, 

 selecting the most valuable ones. The beetles exhibited are tiny, 

 elongated, almost torpedo-shaped insects, yellowish brown in colour, 

 the largest being just under |th inch in total length, whilst the smaller is 

 about half the size. The whole life cycle of the pest is spent within the 

 jute rope, the beetles probably only leaving it during the pairing period. 

 The beetle bores into the rope from the outside, making a horizontal tun- 

 nel until it reaches the centre, on reaching which it turns and bores 

 parallel to the longitudinal axis. In the borings it lays its eggs; from 

 these, little white grubs hatch out, which feed upon the internal rope 

 fibre, reducing it to powder and consequently undermine its strength. 

 Badly infested rope can be snapped across at the attacked spots, when 

 the interior will be found full of grubs, pupae, perhaps beetles, and 

 brownish powder. The insect runs through, in all probability, a number 

 of generations in the year, a life cycle in the hot weather or rains being 

 probably passed through in three mouths, i.e., the beetle lays eggs, the 

 eggs hatch into grubs, the latter become full fed and change to pupa? 

 and the latter giving rise to mature beetles within this period. This 

 insect belongs to the same family (Ptiuidae), though to a different genus, 

 as the well-known so-called cheroot 'weevil,' Lasioderma testaceum. The 

 jute rope exhibited had a diameter of J inch. It is probable that thicker 

 ones are also attacked. Washing the strands over with turpentine would 

 doubtless act as a preventative to attack, whilst at the same time destroy- 

 ing the insects at work inside. 



Mr. Stebbing also exhibited some live caterpillars, probably belong- 



