520 



of a black fungus upon them. A Fulgorid, Ricania fenestrata, was 

 found on tea at the end of March and Ricanoptera opaca in May. This 

 is probably the first record of Ricania in Ceylon. The insects in all 

 stages cluster on the small twigs and leaf -stalks and feed by sucking the 

 plant juices. Severe infestation may cause withering of the leaves and 

 twigs. Both species may be destroyed by collecting the young stages 

 or cutting and burning the infested twigs. Other tea pests include a 

 Limacodid moth.,S]mtulicraspeda castaneiceps, and a midge, Oscinis theae. 

 The larvae of the latter feed inside the leaf under the upper epidermis 

 and should be at once destroyed by picking and burning the leaves. 



Owing to the late planting of cotton there was a severe outbreak 

 of Dysdercus cingulatus (cotton-stainer), which apparently has similar 

 habits to allied species in the West Indies. The local food-plants 

 include the silk cotton tree {Eriodendron anfractuosum), the red cotton 

 tree {Bombax malabaricum), okra {Hibiscus escidentus) and H. rosa- 

 sinensis. Remedial measures advocated are shaking of all stages from 

 the bushes into tins of kerosene and water or the use of traps consisting 

 of damaged. bolls and cotton refuse, etc., in which the bugs should be 

 destroyed with boiling water or by burning with torches. The Pyralid, 

 Sylepta derogata, on cotton may be destroyed by collecting or crushing 

 the caterpillars on the leaves. They are heavily parasitised by a small 

 brown Hymenopteron, as yet unidentified. Another Pyralid, Terastia 

 meticidosalis, was found tunnelling in the ends of young shoots of 

 dadap [Erythrina lithosperma) causing dropping of the terminal leaves. 

 In young plants the afiected shoots should be cut off and destroyed. 



Ellis (A. G. G.). Notes on the Work of the Inspection Staff during 



1918. — Agric. Bull. Fed. Malay States, Kuala Lumpur, vii, no. 3, 

 May-June 1919, pp. 144-150. [Received 8th October 1919.] 



Termites continued to be seriously injurious to rubber during 1918, ■ 

 especially in peat soil. Leaf- mites were plentiful and are believed to do 

 much more damage than is generally recognised. Trees damaged by 

 fire are liable to attack by stem borers, and those that have been 

 thinned out should be removed as soon as possible. 



Leaf-hoppers infested rice to a serious extent in January, but 

 remedial measures proved unnecessary owing to the activities of 

 natural enemies and the occurrence of heavy rains. Stem-boring 

 caterpillars and sucking insects also caused some injury to growing rice. 



Rhinoceros beetles [Oryctes rhinoceros'] and red weevils [Rhynchophorus 

 ferrugineus] do considerable damage to coconut trees ; any substance 

 in which they are likely to breed should be promptly destroyed. An 

 unusually bad outbreak of Brachartona catoxantha occurred in Perak 

 and lasted from February to September. The palms, however, 

 recovered remarkably quickly towards the end of the year. Locusts 

 have not caused much trouble during the year ; swarms appeared in 

 various districts, but no extensive oviposition seems to have occurred. 



Snyder (T. E.). " White Ants " as Pests in the United States and 

 Methods of Preventing their Damage.— C/.5. Dept. Agric.^ 

 Washington, B.C., Farmers' Bull. 1037, June 1919, 16 pp., 11 figs. 

 [Received 9th October'1919]. 

 The bulk of the information in this bulletin on termites has been 



previously noticed [see this Review, Ser. A, v, p. 147]. 



