338 



Termites are recorded as interfering with the telephone service by 

 eating the insulation of the wires, the species concerned was probably 

 Reticulitermes flavipes, Kollar. 



A serious outbreak of Leptobyrsa rhododendri, Horv, (rhododendron 

 lace-bug) occurred during 1921 in a Connecticut nursery. The insects 

 suck the juices from the leaves, causing the appearance of whitish 

 spots. The leaves have a tendency to curl, and in extreme cases turn 

 brown. Eggs are found along the midrib on the lower surface of the 

 leaf. Sprays that have proved effecti^'e include nicotine sulphate 

 and kerosene emulsion. 



Parandra hrunnea, F., caused serious injury to sugar maple trees ; 

 it has been recorded as infesting many other trees and as damaging 

 chestnut telephone poles. The adult beetles emerge during July and 

 August and lay their eggs in small punctures in the wood near wounds 

 and decayed places. The eggs hatch in from two to three weeks, 

 and the larvae bore into the wood. Pupation occurs in a cell at the 

 termination of the burrow. It is thought that three years are required 

 for this Cerambycid to develop from the egg to the adult. As the 

 attack generally follows injury by other species or some other mutila- 

 tion, care must be taken to protect the trees and particular attention 

 must be given to wounds. 



Departmental Activities: Entomology.—//. Dept. Agric. Union 

 S. Africa, Pretoria, iv, no. 4, April 1922, pp. 300-304. 



Heterodera radicicola (root gall Nematode) is a very common pest 

 in all four Provinces of South Africa, and is the cause of swollen roots 

 of tomatos, tobacco and other plants. The roots of grape-vines and 

 various trees are also liable to severe infestation. The failure of sus- 

 ceptible vegetable plants is often traceable to infestation of the surface 

 roots of neighbouring fig or peach trees. This Nematode thrives 

 best in sandy soil, especially when a high water-table or other condition 

 prevents the formation of deep feeding roots. A record is given of an 

 investigation of an infested farm and the remedial measures that were 

 recommended. 



Lema bilineata (tobacco leaf slug) is rapidly spreading. Although 

 normally the larvae leave the plants to pupate in the soil, it has been 

 proved that if the food-plant is cut and bundled the mature larvae 

 will make their cocoons and complete their transformations in the 

 bundle. 



Aphelinus mail, the parasite of the woolly aphis [Eriosoma lanigerum], 

 has increased at Pretoria during mid-summer. This insect can te 

 introduced into a new place by transfering a few twigs bearing parasi- 

 tised Aphids, but pernicious scale [Aspidiotiis perniciosus] is so common 

 round Pretoria that such transfers may be the cause of spreading this 

 pest. Eriosoma pyricola (woolly pear aphis) has been introduced 

 into the country. It is a widespread and serious pest in the western 

 States of America, where it is thought to have been introduced on 

 pear stocks from France. 



Maize has been considerably damaged by Adoretus cribrosns, which 

 feeds on the plants after dark, hiding in the soil at the foot of the 

 plant by day. It is a common pest of grape-vines, rose bushes and 

 fruit trees. Early planted maize, though considerably defoliated, 

 was not so seriously injured as late sown fields. No inexpensive and 

 effective treatment under such conditions can be proposed. An account 

 is given of the use of an old remedy against the maize stalk-borer 



