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A swarm of caterpillars that proved to be a species of Spodoptera 

 attacked a field of young rubber at Kuala Selangor. The district 

 had previously been flooded, after which many caterpillars matured 

 on the rank grass. The moths developing from these oviposited in 

 a new clearing ; the young larvae, after eating all the available 

 grass and wteds that constitute their normal food, attacked the 

 yoimg rubber plants and in a few days all the foliage and young green 

 bark was stripped from them. Hand-picking was resorted to as the 

 outbreak was reported too late for poisoning to be tried. Large 

 numbers of swarming caterpillars or army-worms on grass and weeds 

 in the vicinity of rubber should be regarded with suspicion and 

 preparations made to deal with them should their native food supply 

 run short. Various localities have been troubled by a bark-eating 

 caterpillar, the species being unidentified as the larvae would not feed 

 in captivity. The bark, either tapped or untapped, is eaten away, 

 causing small irregular wounds. The caterpillars are not as yet 

 sufficiently numerous to warrant special treatment. Minor pests of 

 rubber leaves include various species of Psychids (bag-worms) and 

 four species of Coccids. 



Coconuts are seriously damaged by Coptotermes gestroi. It is noticed 

 that after removal of timber that affords breeding-sites for C. gestroi 

 there is frequently a marked increase in attack both on coconut and 

 rubber plantations. This is generally due to individuals that have 

 escaped destruction in the logs and have hurriedly constructed a shelter 

 of earth around the trunks. These should be scraped away and 

 destroyed. C. travians is frequently found on coconut palms and should 

 be eradicated together with C. gestroi, although up to the present no 

 damage can be ascribed to that species. 



Oryctes rhinoceros has been effectively reduced in coconut plantations 

 by the destruction of timber and stumps. Digging for the grubs in all 

 likely feeding grounds during wet weather, when they are driven near 

 the surface, has also given much success. The parasitic wasp, Scolia 

 procer, 111., destroys a large percentage of the larvae of 0. rhinoceros. 

 The Hispid, Plesispa. reichei, Chap., which was a minor pest in 1914 

 and 1915, has been increasing both in range and destructiveness. 

 Owing to the larvae and adults living chiefly in the unopened pinnae, 

 treatment with poison sprays is impracticable. Young and weakly 

 palms are chiefly attacked, and in some cases the damage is sufficient to 

 necessitate their removal and the substitution of healthy plants. 

 Hand-picking is expensive and laborious but has considerably reduced 

 the numbers of these beetles. 



The coconut spike caterpillar, which is the larva of an unidentified 

 Pyralid, has not hitherto been recorded as a coconut pest, but may 

 prove to be an important one. The male flowers on the spike are 

 attacked first, and when these are all destroyed, the female flowers 

 may be attacked or the caterpillars may migrate to another opening 

 spike. Pupation occurs in a roughly constructed cocoon in which 

 dead flowers are woven in with silk. The infection is sporadic, but 

 may persist for months on a palm, with a resultant loss in crop. It is 

 advisable to cut off and burn all affected spikes in a plantation. The 

 coconut pollen mite frequently attacks the male flowers in large num- 

 bers, entering the pollen chambers and feeding on the contents. Much 

 of the pollen is destroyed and the rest becomes massed into heavy 



