377 



Mediterranean Fruit Fly. — Cyprus Agric. JL, Nicosia, xvii, pt. 2, 

 April 1922, pp. 41-42. 



The Mediterranean fruit-fly [Ceratitis capitafa], which a few years 

 ago was causing much damage by attacking every kind of fruit, has 

 now almost disappeared, owing to drastic measures on the part of the 

 Agricultural Department during three or four years in succession. 

 The recent free export of fruit has greatly assisted matters, as the ripe 

 or over-ripe fruit is no longer left on the tree or on the ground. 



Harris (J. B.). The Apple Root Borer.—//. Dept. Agric. S. 

 Australia, Adelaide, xxv, no. 8, 15th March 1922, pp. 706-707. 



The commonest species of apple root borer in the Northern District 

 is Leptops rhizophagus, which causes a sudden withering of the foliage 

 and young shoots owing to the partial destruction of the root system 

 by the larvae. The female beetles, shortly after pairing, which occurs 

 generally during October, deposit masses of about fifty eggs between 

 two leaf edges, which are drawn together and sealed with a sticky 

 secretion. The grubs feed on the butt and main roots and cut twisting 

 channels in all directions in the surface of them. They apparently 

 pupate during the winter months in small cavities in the soil, and 

 emerge as adults in the spring. The grubs have been found only in 

 moist claj^ soil, and the beetles seem to occur only where there is a 

 heavy growth of timber and excessive rainfall. They apparently 

 live on native timber, and orchards placed adjacent to this are most 

 subject to attack. The beetles cannot fly, and so do not become rapidly 

 distributed. The mature insects can be poisoned by a strong lead 

 arsenate spray, and this might also prove effective against the newly 

 hatched grubs as they eat their way out of the nest. Zinc collars 

 around the trunks of the trees are recommended to prevent the adults 

 from ascending for oviposition. 



Regulations under "The Plant Diseases Act, 1914." — Dept. Agric. 

 Western Australia, Fruit Indust. Branch, Perth, 1921, 21 pp. 

 [Received 16th May 1922.] 



This pamphlet gathers together all the regulations passed under 

 the Plant Diseases Act, 1914, in Western Austraha. 



Illidge (R.). Insects of the Wattle-trees.— (^^/^^ws/an^i Naturalist, 

 Brisbane, iii, no. 3, February 1922, pp. 61-64. 



The numerous insects that affect the various species of Acacia in 

 the Brisbane district include : the moths, Xyleutes eucalypti, infesting 

 the roots, and Maroga unipunctana, occurring in the stem and branches, 

 and causing death by ringbarking ; a weevil, Chrysolophus spectabilis, 

 burrowing in the stem and branches ; the cottony cushion scale [Icerya 

 purchasi] ; and the larvae of several butterflies, feeding on the 

 foliage and flowers. 



The following Cerambycids also occur: — Sceleocantha glahricoUis on 

 Acacia cunninghami ; Xystrocera virescens sometimes on A. bailey ana, 

 but most abundant on A . linifolia and A . decurrens ; Pachydissus 

 sericus ; Phoracantha fallax ; Didymocantha obliqua ; Piesarthrius 

 marginellus, which cuts the branches off just above its burrow ; Ura- 

 canthus sp., with' habits similar to those of P. marginellus ; Stephanops 

 nasiita ; Phalota tenella ; Probatodes piliger ; Hebecerus crocogaster ; 



