57 



Field peas suffered extensive losses in yield due to injuiies by 

 weevils in the field and in storage. The species chiefly concerned were 

 Bruchus phaseoli, Gyl., and B. quadrimaculatus, ¥., the loss being 

 mainly due to delayed harvesting and bad storage. There is no 

 known method of field treatment, and remedies he in proper and imme- 

 diate care of the crop. Complaints of injuries by cutworms during 

 1917-18 were more numerous than usual owing to th(? hurried 

 reclamation of uncultivated land without extended fallowing operations 

 or treatment with poison-bait. The burning- over of such land as a 

 measure against cutworms and crickets {Gryllus assimilis, Wlk.) is 

 to be discouraged, since the impoverishment of the soil due to humus 

 destruction more than outweighs the small and indeed questionable 

 gain to the crop. 



Maize suffered the usual losses from the corn-worms, Heliothis 

 ohsolela, F. , and Laphjgma frugiperda, S. & A. Young plants may be 

 protected : — (1) by mixing a fittle over | teaspoonful Paris green in 

 one quart maize meal till it has a greenish tint and sprinkling a pinch of 

 this in the heart of each unfolding plant ; (2) by hghtly dusting lead 

 arsenate and wood ashes in equal parts, or Paris green one part, road 

 dust, white hme, wood ashes 15 parts, from a fine muslin bag into the 

 heart ; (3) by spraying lead arsenate J lb. to 4 gals, water from a tin 

 mist sprayer into the heart of the plant ; (4) by hand picking ; (5) by 

 ground cultivation with the scuffle hoe ; (6) by preparing a well-tilled 

 and rich seed-bed to ensure the quick estabhshment of the plants. 

 Injury by weevils can be avoided by proper storage and fumigation 

 by heat or carbon bisulphide. 



Bananas throughout the island are generally infested with red 

 spider, which, however, is not abundant, nor as a rule injurious, though 

 it may become a pest at times and have a serious devitalising effect 

 if not taken in hand. Experiments with Black-leaf 40 and lime- 

 sulphur were being carried out when the hurricane of 23rd September 

 1917 totally destroyed the field. Since the same date the coconut 

 beetles, Sternod&ntis damicornis and Macraspis tetradactyla, L., have 

 both been taken repeatedly in a somewhat unusual location, namely, 

 the heart of the coconut, their presence there being probably due to 

 the prevalence of injured fermenting tissue in the crown. The latter 

 beetle and Scalmus inter stitialis, Esch., have both been found breeding 

 in decaying stumps and felled coconut stems about plantations. 

 Other species collected were Strategus titanus (not S. anach&reta as has 

 been stated) and Metamasius sericeus, Oliv. Pseudococcus nipae, 

 Mask., attended by ants has become numerous on newly estabhshed 

 nuts, and the bagworm Oiketicus sp. has been reported damaging 

 coconut foliage. 



The pineapple weevil, Metamasius ritchiei, Mshl., again claimed a 

 large percentage of the crop in 1917, the recommendations made in 

 1916 for its control not having been generally acted upon. It is a 

 pest difficult to control directly, once it has gained a footing, as its 

 life is passed in the seclusion of the pine tissues, and reliance must be 

 placed on preventive measures. 



Anastrepha fraterculus, Wied., has been found to preponderate 

 among fruit-flies bred from mangos, guavas, Spondias dulcis, <). mombin 

 and *S. purpurea, but the Mediterranean fruit-fly {Ceratitis capitata) 

 does not appear to be present in the Island. 



(C538) B 



