571 



Leefmans (S.). Voorloopige Mededeelingen omtrent Koffiebessen- 



boeboek. [Preliminary Communications on the Coffee-berry 

 Borer.] — Publicaties Ned.- Indisch Landbouw Syndicaat, Soera- 

 bava, xii, no. 15, 11th September 1920, pp. 645-663. (Not on 

 sale.) [Received 20th October 1922.] 



The author's investigations were especially directed towards 

 ehicidating the biology of the coffee-berry borer [Stephanoderes hampei], 

 thus completing Dr. Roepke's study Ji.A.E., A, viii, 447]. The 

 egg stage lasts 5-6 days. The larvae feed upon the tissues of 

 the - coffee bean ; young individuals may also feed on borings and 

 on saprophytic fungi in the beans. The larval stage lasts 10-21 days, 

 with an average of 14, including a 2-day rest prior to pupation. The 

 pupal stage lasts 4-6 ciays. The duration of a generation is, therefore, 

 20-35 days, with an average of 25. The maximum life of an adult 

 female was observed to be 87 days. The maximum number of eggs 

 laid by one female was 54. Females predominate, the percentage of 

 males being from 0-23 to 5 with an average of 1 -7 per cent. Unfer- 

 tilised eggs do not hatch. The males cannot fly and are sought out 

 by the winged females, which seek new breeding-places after mating. 

 Mating nearly always occurs in the black, dry berries, which mostly 

 have fallen to the ground and are almost exclusively the haunts of 

 the males. Breeding seldom occurs in 3'oung berries. 



The preventive measures advised are the avoidance of all coffee 

 seed likely to be infested and the provision of harvesting baskets, etc., 

 with rounded corners permitting of thorough cleansing. Other 

 measures are the immersion of harvested berries in water for 3-4 

 days, the burying (at least 8 inches deep under well packed soil) or 

 burning of the highly dangerous blackened berries, and " rampassen," 

 i.e. the removal of all berries large enough to invite attack. 



CoRPORAAL (J. B.). De Koffiebesboorder op Sumatra's Oostkust en 

 Atjeh. [The Coffee-berry Borer on the East Coast of Sumatra 

 and in Atjeh.] — Meded. Algem. Proefst. A.V.R.O.S., Medan, 

 Algem. Serie no. 12, 1st June 1921, 20 pp. (With a Summarv in 

 English.) [Received 20th October 1922.] 



This paper is intended to complete the infomiation previously 

 published by Dr. Roepke [R.A.E., A, viii, 447] and Leefmans [see 

 above], and contains a summary of their results. 



The borer was probably introduced into Sumatra from Java, thus 

 again demonstrating the urgent need for plant quarantine legislation 

 in the Dutch East Indies. 



When the injury first became important (January 1919) the beetles 

 were only found in dry berries, either on the bushes or on the ground, 

 and they then limited their attack to the dry pulp round the bean. 

 The first attacked bean was found in August 1919, and up to Juh^ 

 1920, such beans were very scarce. Breeding can occur in prepared 

 market coffee, especially if it is not too dr}^ 



The infestation is now nearly universal on the east coast of Sumatra. 

 At Siantar the proportion of infested berries varied from 5 to 99 per 

 cent. New infestations on isolated estates seem due to natives 

 bringing infested beans or coffee for domestic use. 



Blackened berries that are not buried or burned should be at once 

 artificially dried at 50°-60° C. [122°-140° F.], which kills the beetles. 

 The intervals between picking the ripe berries should be shortened ; 

 the ideal would be to harvest once a week. 



(7933) 2 Q 2 



