554 



As regards hygiene, flies and mosquitos should be dealt with, and the 

 distribution of Anophelines especially requires investigation. 



Some suggestions are tentatively put forward for the better organisa- 

 tion and use of the existing institutions in the country, on the lines 

 successfully adopted elsewhere. 



Work in connexion with Insect and Fungus Pests and their Control. — 



Kept. Agric. Dcpt., Antigua, 1920 21, Barbados, 1922, pp. 8-9. 



The pests of sugar-cane were the same as in the previous year 

 \R.A.E., A, X, 58]. On cotton, Alabama argillacea was present more 

 or less throughout the Island without doing very considerable damage. 

 Aduhs of Dysdercus andreae appeared in large numbers from September 

 onwards, but were kept in check by traps of cotton seed. Eriophyes 

 gossypii (cotton-leaf blister mite) was common throughout the Island, 

 and was very difficult to control owing to the large amount of wild 

 cotton growing in uncultivated land. On limes the Coccids, Lepido- 

 saphes beckii, Chionaspis citri and Coccus viridis were troublesome. 

 Euscepes [Cryptorrhynchus] batatae is generally prevalent where sweet 

 potatoes are grown. When crop rotation is practised, however, the 

 plants are usually free from infestation. 



The Rhododendron Bug {Leptohyrsa {Stephanitis) rJwdodendri, Horv.). 

 — //. Minist. Agric, London, xxix, no. 6, September 1922, 

 pp. 555-558. 4 figs. 



Stephanitis rhododendri, Horv. (rhododendron bug) has been 

 observed in Great Britain since 1910 ; it was probably introduced 

 from the Eastern United States, its food-plants there being Rhododen- 

 dron and Kalmia. The newer rhododendron hybrids are far more 

 susceptible to damage than the long-established Rhododendron ponticum. 

 An obvious sign of injury is the presence of brown spots on the lower 

 surface of the leaves, with a slight freckling on the upper surface, 

 as the bugs suck the sap. In severe cases the whole plant is seen to wilt, 

 and, in unfavourable weather conditions, death may result. 



A description of this Tingid is given, with an account of its life- 

 history, which is similar to that recorded in France [R.A.E., A, vi, 530]. 

 In the case of small plants, a simple soap wash consisting of 1 lb. 

 soft soap in 10 gallons of water is efficient, but the lower surface of the 

 leaves must be thoroughly wetted by the spray, and this is not easy in 

 the case of large, thick bushes. The addition of one fluid oimce of 

 95-98 per cent, nicotine in each 10 gahons of the above wash renders it 

 more effective, and is justified in the case of valuable plants or when the 

 purpose is complete eradication of the pest. As the eggs are laid on 

 the leaves, it is a good plan to remove and burn all infested ones during 

 the winter. Hand-picking in the summer is also quite effective if 

 practised when the bugs first appear in a previously uninfested garden. 



Paillot (A.). Contre la fausse Chenille du Pecher. — La Vie Agric. 

 et Rur., Paris, xxi, no. 35, 2nd September 1922, pp. 166-167. 

 This paper on Neurotoma nemoralis has been noticed from another 

 source [R.A.E., A, x, 537]. 



Faes (H). La Culture du Pyrethre et I'Utihsation en Viticulture de 

 la Poudre de Pyrethre. — La Vie Agric. et Rur., Paris, xxi, no. 35, 

 2nd September 1922, pp. 169-171, 2 figs. 

 The information contained in this paper has already been noticed 



[R.A.E., A, x, 231]. 



