405 



The experiments were carried out on old and large bushes and under 

 conditions of the greatest difficulties as regards water transport, etc. 

 Two washes gave good results ; the sprayed bushes were free from 

 insects without injury to them or to the flavour of the tea, and yielded 

 a larger crop than the untreated ones. No. 1 wash was composed 

 of 1 oz. lead cliromate per 4 gals, of water ; No. 2 was the same with 

 the addition of 1 pint of resin compound (2 lb. resin and 1 lb. sodium 

 carbonate in 3 gals, of water). The cost of spraying was high under 

 the conditions obtaining ; for practical purposes the estimated cost 

 for spraying bushes 6 or 8 months from pruning is 6s. 8d. per acre for 

 No. 1 wash and 85. 8d. per acre for No. 2, inclusive of materials, labour 

 and water transport ; this cost could probably be reduced considerably 

 in practice by ordering larger quantities of the material at a time. 

 No. 2 wash was considered to improve the flavour of the tea ; neither 

 wash is affected by rain when once it has dried on the leaves. Diffi- 

 culties of water transport may be materially lessened by sinking a 

 small reservoir in the area to be treated, 



Arce (B.). Instructions for the Control of Rice Worms {Prodenia 

 litura, Fabr,, and Spodopteramauritia, Boisd.). — Trop. Agricultvrist, 

 Peradeniya, Hi, no. 6, June 1919, pp. 347-348. 



In the Philippines, the cutworms, Prodenia litura, F., and Spodoptera 

 mauritia, Boisd., damage rice almost every year when the seedlings in 

 the seed-bed are vigorously growing and about to be transplanted, 

 and injury is also done to cabbages, tomatoes, tobacco and other plants. 

 The stages in the life-cycle of these moths are described and tabulated, 

 that of P. litura occupying 33-50 days and that of S. mauritia 31-66 

 days. Rice plants should be sprayed with 1 lb. lead arsenate to 10 gals, 

 water, preferably in the evening. Sweeping with a net is also practical 

 and successful. When there is plenty of water, after the dykes are 

 repaired, the seed-beds may be submerged ; the caterpillars then 

 float on the surface and can be collected or skimmed off. 



Anderson (T. J.). The Coffee Bug, Antestia lineaticollis, Stal. — Brit. 

 East Africa, Dept. Agric, Nairobi, Div. Entom., Bull. no. 1 [n.d.], 

 53 pp., 7 figs. [Received 23rd July 1919. j 



The species of Antestia found in Africa include A. falsa, Sch., 

 A. transvaalia, Sch., A. usambarica, Sch, and A. lineaticollis, Stal, the 

 latter being the only one so far recorded from the East African Pro- 

 tectorate, where it is present in great numbers as a coffee pest. The 

 bugs are most numerous from January and February to July and 

 August. The life-cycle, of which all stages including egg, 5 nymphal 

 instars and adult are described, varies greatly in duration according 

 to the seasons. Tables are given showing this variation. The adults, 

 although winged, are seldom seen to fly, and the possibility of flight 

 from one bush to another has not yet been proved. They feed on the 

 green berries, buds, green twigs and even leaves of the coffee plant, 

 but a marked preference is shown for the berries, which may shrivel 

 and drop off. If the buds are punctured, development is retarded, 

 with the result that fewer flowers develop with a corresponding 

 reduction in the amount of berries produced. The average length of 

 life of the adult female is 131 days, that of the male 106 days. 



