85 



water emulsion. The outer edge of a crop not intended for forage 

 may be sprayed with the above Paris green or lead arsenate mixture, 

 but with 2 lb. slaked lime added to prevent scorching. If the pest has 

 spread throughout a crop it may be successfully dealt with by the use 

 of poisoned bait, 1 lb. Paris green to 16 lb. bran with the addition of 

 a httle salt. Another formula not yet tested is 1 lb. Paris green or 9 oz. 

 white arsenic to 50 lb. bran, and the juice of 6 oranges or lemons, made 

 into a stiff mash with molasses. 



Other insects attacking the cob fire :— Dichocrocis {Conogethes) 

 purocfiferalis. Cn. (yellow peach or maize moth grub), a species native 

 to the north coast of AustruUa and probably Queensland, which is 

 common in the field, damaging the cob core, grain and silk, and 

 occasionally boring in the stem, also attacking green peaches and 

 sometimes sorghum heads. Aphis tnaidis (green corn-aphis) and 

 a mealy-bug, Dactt/lopius sp.,suck the sap of the leaves, steni and cob- 

 sheaths. 



The following insects, though also attacking the ears in the field, 

 are most destructive to stored gv&hi,— Calandra oryzae, L. (grain 

 weevil), Silotroya cermlella. Oliv. (.Ingoumois grain moth), Triholium 

 casfaneum { ferrugineum) (led flour beetle), Gnathocerus {Echocerus) 

 cornutus, F. (broad-horned flour beetle), Rhizopertha dominica, F. 

 (lesser grain borer), Silmnus surinamensis, L. (saw-toothed grain 

 beetle), Lamiovhloeas sp. (fiat grain beetle), Tenebrio molitor, L. 

 (meal-worni), Tenebroides mcmritaninus, L., Carpophilm hemipterus,!,., 

 Ti/phaea fumata, L., and mites. 



The leaves are attacked by a beetle, Monolepta rosae, Blackb., 

 which also injures the silk of young cobs, probably preventing fertih- 

 sation, cutworms, Nysius vinilor, Berg. (Rutherglen bug) and various 

 grasshoppers. 



The roots or seei^ling corn in the soil are attacked by Elaterid 

 larvae (wireworms), Scarabaeid larvae (white grubs), Clirinn sp. 

 (slender seed-corn beetle) and Pentodon axsirah, Blackb. (underground 

 maize beetle). 



So serious is the damage by weevils and grain moths to ripe maize 

 during summer, that in the north coast districts the earlier crop, 

 which ripens from January to April, is usually marketed at once to 

 avoid loss. During the colder months from May to August, maize 

 for convenience is often left standing or stored in the husks, or shelled 

 and stored. In August damage by the pests begins again and increases, 

 and preventive measures such as fumigation, and the cleaning up and 

 destruction of infested grain or waste should be adopted. 



Agricultural Experiments. — Jamaica Bept. Agric. Ann. Rept.for Year 

 ended 31st March 1918, Kingston, 1918, pp. 14-18. 



Banana suckers infested v\nth Cosmopolites sordidus Germ, (banana 

 borer) can be freed from all stages of the weevil without damaging 

 the plant, by submerging them in water for 48 hours, owing to the 

 fact that the weevil has so high a specific gravity that it immediately 

 sinks and drowns. The weevils caimot be destroyed by fumigation 

 with carbon bisulphide since this substance kills the plants, and 

 constitutes in fact the cheapest and simplest way of destroying plants 

 in situ. , 



