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attacked by larvae which had wandered from the neighbouring flowers - 

 The larval stage was found to be 3-4 weeks in the laboratory. The 

 pupae are generally to be found near the flower sheath between the 

 side shoots, only rarely on the nuts. The pupal stage lasts 7-11 days ; 

 the imago lives several days and the sexes are approximately equal 

 in number ; oviposition may take place without fertilisation, but 

 whether such eggs are fertile was not determined ; the whole life-cycle 

 occupies about 40 days. The pest was at its worst from the beginning 

 of the previous east monsoon, so that there is no period of winter rest 

 in the life of the insect. It would appear that the part of the plantations 

 attacked was that nearest to the forest. The pest appears to be already 

 spread all over Java, but only the fact that one or two plantations were 

 badly attacked caused it to be brought to the author's notice. On 

 one of these the harvest had been estimated at 60 tons of copra, but 

 only a little over 1 ton was gathered, the bulk of this loss of 98| per 

 cent, being attributed to this pest. Among the insects found in the 

 putrid flower mass produced were the earwig, Exypnus pulchripennis. 

 Butt, and the weevils Rhabdocnemis interruptocostata, Schaufuss, and 

 Diocalandra frumenti, F. {stigtnaticollis, Gyll.) ; there is some ground 

 for suspicion that the last-named helps to complete the damage done by 

 Melissohlaptes. Experiments with Exypnus showed that it would not 

 eat the flowers until they were beginning to rot. The insect was further 

 observed on several occasions to attack and kill the larvae of Melisso- 

 hlaptes. Only three parasitic Hymenoptera were raised from 120 

 caterpillars, so that these are of small account as natural enemies. 

 The great height of the trees and the nature of the attack make any 

 attempt at control by spraying useless. Cutting out and burning all 

 attacked buds and young nuts is also useless, as this operation does 

 even more damage to the crown of the tree than the insect. Trapping 

 with sugar, flavoured with vanilla, was tried in the hope of attracting 

 the females, as the males have a strong odour of vanilla, but this did 

 not succeed, nor were light traps of much use. The males only fly by 

 night and very few were caught. The young coconuts are attacked 

 in New Guinea and the Sandwich Islands by a similar pest, identified 

 by Preuss as Phryganodes (Omiodes) blackburnii, Butl., in the latter 

 country. 



Keuchenius (P. E.). De betekenis van twee bekende mieren, in 

 verband met het groeneluizen-vraagstuk van de koffie. [The 

 significance of two known species of ant in relation to the green 

 coffee scale.] — Tijdschr. Teijsmannw, Bafavia, no. 10, 1914, 

 pp. 711-716. [Received 7th April 1915.] 



Two species of ant are very common in coffee gardens and are firmly 

 believed by the planters to encourage the spread of Coccus viridts 

 {Lecanium viride) (the green coffee scale). These are Oecophylla 

 smaragdina and Plagiolepis longipes, both of which foster green scale. 

 The planters are so convinced that Plagiolepis assists the dispersal 

 of the scale that they lose no opportunity of destroying the nests. 

 There is no doubt whatever that this ant makes use of the scale for 

 its own purposes, but the author, as the result of his owni observations, 

 strenuously denies that there is any connection whatever between the 

 spread of the scale and the ant. The ants clearly follow the scales. 



