270 



attractive as coffee, females ovipositing freely even on trunks 6 to 8 ins. 

 in diameter. Larvae hatching from eggs deposited on teak between 

 20th and 25th September developed normally and constructed large 

 galleries. It was not thought probable that X. quadripes could breed 

 in dead wood, but it has been found to breed normally in very dry 

 wood of coffee, both of C. arabica and C. liberica, and in both fresh 

 and dry stems of teak and Gardeyiia. Smooth, glossy stems such as 

 those of bamboo seem unattractive to the females. No insects other 

 than Xylotrechns have been taken on C. arabica. Certain ants and 

 spiders prey upon adults of the borer. 



Experiments with various substances to coat the stems have been 

 continued ; the difficulty is to find an elastic substance that is not 

 too costly for practical use. Besides the development of the stems 

 rendering an elastic substance necessary, the action of rain, wind, sun 

 and ants are all factors to be reckoned with. Tar and coal-tar are 

 efficient, but cannot be used without injury to the tree. At Cho-ganh, 

 when the coffee plants begin to dry off, from June to September, the 

 stems contain only larvae and a few pupae. There may be a few 

 adults present, but these are in a very small proportion, considerably 

 less than 1 per cent. From stems cut and placed under observation 

 adults began to emerge about one month after their removal. Experi- 

 ments are being continued with various toxic substances applied to 

 the roots of coffee plants, but the results with these have as yet been 

 negative. The plants treated dry up or lose their foliage, while the 

 larvae continue to develop. 



In India, where X. quadripes has caused very little damage during 

 the last 50 years, it has again become a most serious pest of coffee. 

 In the districts of Coorg and Mysore great loss has occurred, the native 

 plants, Olea divica and Wendlandia sp., serving as food-plants of the 

 borer. 



The pests attacking rice at Tonkin are also being made the subject 

 of an investigation. 



GuiTEL (F.). La Station entomologique de la Faculty des Sciences de 

 Rennes en 1917.— Insecta, Rennes, viii, no. 85-96, 1918, pp. 177- 

 181. [Received 29th April 1919.] 



The establishment of war-time vegetable gardens has led to many 

 enquiries concerning the commoner vegetable pests. Among the 

 less known, the Microlepidopteron, Acrolepia assectella, is a serious 

 pest of leeks in many widely-scattered localities in France, the larvae 

 mining in the plants. The best remedy is to cut the leeks before the 

 damage has been done. The beetle, Cassida inquinata, is local and 

 not very abundant, but has done important damage to chamomile 

 {Anthemis nobilis) in the Maine-et-Loire district. 



DuFRENOY (J.). Les Formes de D6g6n6rescenee des Chenilles de 



Cnethocampa pityocampa parasit6es. [The Forms of Degeneration 

 of parasitised Larvae of Cnethocampa pityocampa.'] — C.R. Soc. 

 Biol. Paris, Ixxxii. no. 9, 29th March 1919, pp. 288-289. 



The various bacilli that are liable to infect larvae of Cnethocampa 

 pityocampa and the manner of their attack are described. These 

 include Bacterium pityocampae, Streptococcus pityocampae and a 



