135 



Experiments with insecticides showed that resm compound, fish-oil 

 resiu soaj) and a proprietary contact insecticide " Incosopol " were 

 all about equally effective against Aphids, Aleurodids, scale-insects 

 and mealy-bugs. Experiments showed that Periplaneta americana 

 (common cockroach) could be effectively, though very slowly, poisoned 

 with boracic acid in honey, and could also be trapped by means of a 

 kerosene tin containing a weak solution of molasses in water. 

 Extended experiments on the protection of wood against Microtermes 

 obesus have shown that the deterrent effect depends on the treatment 

 employed, the variety of wood treated and the kind of termite against 

 which protection is sought. At Pusa it has been found that teak, sissoo 

 and jarrah naturally resist M. obesus without treatment. Wood can be 

 rendered immune by impregnating it with arsenicals, or creosote 

 (or wood-tar) or some similar liquid, immunity lasting until the poison 

 is washed out or the odour disappears. In practice, treatment with 

 arsenicals is not easy without a pressure apparatus to ensure 

 penetration of the wood. 



During 1917-18 it was found that besides the species of Eublemmu 

 and of Chalcids that normally attack lac {Tachardia lacca) whilst 

 on the trees, considerable damage was done to brood-lac on Zizyphus 

 jujuha by Holococera [Hypatima) pulverea. The larvae of this moth 

 commonly damage scraped and unwashed stick-lac in store, but do 

 not usually attack the growing lac. 



Anstead (R. D.). Castor Oil Plant and Tea..— Planters' Chronicle, 

 Bangalore, xiii, no. 50, 14th December, 1918, p. 799. 



A correspondence having arisen as to the reason why it is injurious 

 to tea crops to grow castor oil plants in the vicinity, the author points 

 out that most of the reasons given are incorrect, the fact that these 

 plants attract Aphids and the caterpillars, Achaea (Ophiusa) melicerta 

 and Trabala vishnu, being nearest the truth. 



The real reason is that Xyleborus fornicatus (shot-hole borer), a serious 

 pest of tea, is harboured by the castor oil plant to a greater degree 

 than by any other, and therefore it should be removed entirely from 

 tea-growing areas, as without this step total eradication of the pest 

 is impossible. 



Beeson (C. F. C). Forest Zoologist's Report on the Bee-hole Borer 

 Investigations of 1918.— Rangoon, 1918, 4 pp., 1 chart. [Received 

 22nd January, 1919.] 



The Cossid, Duomitus ceramicus, Wlk. (bee-hole borer), has a 

 normal life-cycle of one year, though a cycle of two years or at least 

 two larval feeding seasons not infrequently occurs. Control by trap- 

 ping the adult moths, inspecting the trees to locate early larval attack, 

 or destroying or concentrating the young larvae by means of 

 grease bands, deterrents, trap-trees, etc., is impossible, since eggs are 

 laid anywhere from the gi'ound to a height of 70 ft. 



As the result of investigations carried out during 1918 in Burma, 

 the follomng conclusions have been reached : — That in numerical 

 incidence the borer has appreciably increased during the last 20 

 years in planted areas, this being probably directly referable to the 

 increase in breeding facilities provided by plantations ; the percentage 



