295 



Eggs of Tipiila olcracca, L., are deposited from June to October 

 singly or in batches, usualh' in dense moist herbage. Strawberry roots 

 are attacked by the larvae in the daytime, and at night they feed on 

 the stems and leaves and then on the crowns. Pupation occurs at six 

 inches or deeper in the soil. In the Midlands and the west and south- 

 west of England two fairly well marked broods occur, the first from 

 April to the end of May or early June, and the second in September 

 and October. Remedial measures include soil insecticides, such as 

 Vaporite or gaslime that contains calcium sulphocyanates. Where 

 an attack is in progress a broad-wheeled farm cart should be drawn 

 up and down between the rows very early in the morning and late in 

 the evening to crush the larvae and consolidate the soil. During the 

 day the top two inches of soil should be well hoed or raked into a 

 fine tilth, which will get hot and dry and kill the larvae by exposure. 



The larvae of Agrotis sp. and Hepialiis sp. destroy strawberry 

 plants during the winter. Those of the former feed all the autumn and 

 winter, pupating in the soil in April and May, the adults emerging a 

 month later. The eggs of Hepialns lupulinits, L., are laid in May and 

 June and hatch in nine days. The larvae enter the soil, feeding on 

 the roots, etc., till April, when they pupate, the adults emerging in 

 about a month. The substances that have been recommended against 

 these cutworms are soot, lime, gaslime, wood ashes, Kainit, muriate 

 of potash and Vaporite. Trapping with turves laid grass-side down 

 is effective. 



The life-history and remedial measures recommended for 

 Oxygrapha coniariana, Z. (strawberry tortrix) have already been 

 noticed [R.A.E., A, viii, 5161. Macrosiphtini {Siphonophora) fra- 

 gariella, Theo. (strawberry aphis) infests the strawberry from early 

 spring till the end of the picking season. The winter is passed in the 

 egg-stage, and the stem-mothers hatch in March or early April. 

 This Aphid sucks the juices from the young leaves, the hearts of the 

 crowns and the developing blossom trusses. Remedial measures 

 include the cutting off and burning of the leaves in the winter. Spraying 

 is difficult, but the stem-mothers may be controlled in early April 

 with 2| lb. soft soap and I pint nicotine to 50 gals, soft water (if 

 hard water is used, 5 lb. soap may be necessary). No definite remedial 

 measures are known for the control of the millipede, Blaniuhts 

 guttulatus, Gerv., which attacks the fruit. Attacks seem most prevalent 

 after the addition of farmyard manure, leaf mould or other organic 

 matter. 



In the case of all these pests all waste vegetable matter should be 

 burned, including herbage along hedge sides and on waste ground. 



Marshall (G. A. K.). On New Species of Alcides from the Oriental 



Region. — Ann. and Mas. Nat. Hist., London, ix, no. 52, April 

 1922, pp. 393-411, 1 plate, 1 fig. 



The new species described include Alcides gmelinae found in the 

 United Provinces boring in twigs of Gmelina arhorea, from which it was 

 also bred in Assam ; this weevil also occurs in Burma. 



Ballard (E.). Two New Species of Ragmus from South India. — 



Records Ind. Mus., Calcutta, xxii, pt. iv, no. 26, December 1921, 

 pp. 509-510, 1 plate. [Received 4th April 1922.] 



Of the two new Capsids described in this paper, Ragmits morosus 

 was taken on cotton, Crotalaria juncea (sunn hemp), Andropogon 



