56 



Andrews (E. A.). An Experiment on the Treatment of Red Spider by- 

 Insecticides. — Qtrly. Jl. Scient. Dept. Indian Tea Assoc, Calcutta,. 

 pt. 2, 1918, pp. 46-49. [Received 3rd December 1918.] 



Atrial of insecticides against tlie mite, Tdranychus bioculatus, "W.-M.^ 

 on a badly afEected area during the second week in May was unfor- 

 tunately rendered futile by a rainfall of nearly 4| inches in 1 hour 35- 

 minutes some 3 days after their application, the result being that 

 both the pest and the remedies were washed off. 



Examination of leaves plucked on the day of application, however, 

 showed that sulphur, lime-sulphur, Cya sulphur, and Vermisapon were 

 perfectly efl&cient, and Cook's nicotine spray so nearly so, that, ha\Tng 

 regard to the fact that on some leaves all the mites were dead, it must 

 be concluded that faulty application was responsible for the escape 

 of 2 '5 per cent, of the mites. Crude oil emulsion was not quite so good 

 as the above, while sodium silicate had very little effect. 



Ritchie (A. H.). Annual Report of Entomologist, — Jamaica Dept. 

 Agric. Ann. Kept, for Year ended 31st March 1918, Kingston, 1918, 

 pp. 34-40. 



During 1917-1918, the sweet potato was injured by Cylasformicarius^ 

 F. (sweet potato weevil), largely owing to lack of selection of vines 

 and unseasonable planting. Slips consisting of the growing tip of 

 the vine have the advantages of being weevil-free, of establishing 

 themselves more quickly and of yielding better results. The most 

 important remedial measures are selection of slips, sanitation of the 

 fields and rotation of crops. A new weevil, Palaeopus costicollis, 

 Mshl., causing injury very similar to that of C.jormicarius and Euscepes 

 batatae, was reared from sweet potatoes in May. Euscepes jjorcelhis, 

 Boh., not previously recorded from Jamaica and possibly an intro- 

 duction, was reared from larvae breeding in the stems of sweet potato 

 just at the ground-level. It has been recorded generally from Central 

 America, and also occurs in Porto Rico and Cuba. Sweet potato chips 

 for potato flour manufacture were injured by a Scolytid beetle, 

 Hypothenemus ritchiei, Samps. It should be readily controlled by 

 proper drying and storage. Pilocrocis tripunctata, F. (sweet potato 

 leaf-folder) occasionally becomes destructive ; the larvae, however, 

 can be controlled by sprapng with lead arsenate at the rate of 2 lb, 

 to 40 gals, water. A Cassidid, Metriona propingua, was recorded 

 as injuring sweet potato foliage, but never became so numerous or 

 destructive as Coptocycla fiavoliyieata, Latr., reported in the previous 

 year. 



The yam crop was injured by Aspidiotus hartii, Ckll. (yam scale), 

 which sometimes kills out plants entirely. Control consists in dipping 

 the yam heads before planting in strong lime-sulphur, 1 gal. concentral 

 (32° Be.) to 10 gals, water. Reinfestation, however, may come from 

 crawling larval stages blown by the wind or carried on the feet of 

 birds or larger insects ; hence a new yam patch should preferably be 

 to leeward of a previously infested one. Since 1st January 1918, 

 the Federal Horticultural Board of the United States Department of 

 Agricultuie has forbidden the importation of yams and sweet potatoes 

 grown in Jamaica owing to the prevalence of the weevils, Cylas formi- 

 carius, F., and Euscepes batatae, Waterh. 



