583 



Permanent thrips control will result from the eradication of root 

 disease, and better drainage and soil conditions, rather than from spray- 

 ing. Sfiraslo)na dej^ressuin, L. (cacao beetle) , which is a well-known pest 

 causing some damage in Grenada, is not confined to any special area 

 of the island, though it is more abundant on the leeward side. Better 

 methods of pruning will probably help in reducing the amount of 

 injury. Extended use of traps and possibly spraying with lead 

 arsenate may be found of value. Cremastogasler sp. (acrobat ant) is 

 recorded for the first time as damaging cacao. It is possible that this 

 may become the most serious cacao pest in Grenada owing to (1) 

 the unlimited nesting sites available in crevices of bark or wood in 

 living or dead trees, in fences and out-buildings ; (2) the small size 

 of the colonies ; (3) the method of feeding in cuts or wounds, in such 

 a, manner as to prevent these from healing over ; and (4) the association 

 of these ants with other insects, especially with Fsendococcus citri 

 (mealy bug). Attacks are encouraged by bad pruning and careless 

 treatment of borer wounds and all decayed trees. Experiments 

 should be made with a view to finding some better wound dressing 

 than any now in use. Black blight on cacao trees is generally 

 associated with mealy bugs and scale-insects, but is in itself com- 

 paratively harmless to the trees. Two species of Cocgidae attack 

 cacao in Grenada, viz., Pseudococcus citri (mealy bug) and Astero- 

 lecanium jmstidans (fringed scale). There seems to be no danger that 

 any insects known to occur in Grenada which are accompanied by 

 black blight will eventually become pests of cacao. Scale-insects are 

 there controlled to a certain extent by natural enemies, both fungi 

 and insects, the latter being mainly liymenopterous parasites. 



NowELL (W.). Report by the Mycologist. — Dejpt. Agric. for the West 

 Indies, St. George, Grenada, 26th April 1915, pp. 12-17. 

 [Received 24th July 1915.] 



Owing to the rarity in Grenada of scale-insects, except mea'y bug 

 on cacao, observations on the subject of fungi parasitic on scale- 

 insects were confined to citrus, mango and other fruit trees. Mangoes 

 were found to be infested with Lecanium sp., and Cephalosporium lecanii 

 {shield scale fungus) was widespread. The practice of pruning trees for 

 removal of black blight is unjustifiable, since it involves the destruction 

 of C. lecanii. The question of the artificial distribution of useful fungi 

 only arises in the case of shield scales on mango and other fruit trees. 

 The introduction into such trees, at the beginning of the wet season, 

 of branches containing C lecanii would probably give better results 

 than the lopping of the trees. The success of the measure should be 

 judged by the condition of the scales and of new shoots, not by the 

 black deposit on the old leaves, which may remain long after the cause 

 of it has been removed. 



Du Porte (E. M.). Some Insect Parasites of the Bud Moth.— 7f/t Ann. 

 Kept. Quebec Soc. Prof. Plants from bisects and Fung. Dis. 

 {1914-1915), Quebec, 1915, pp.7G-77. [Received 4th August 1915. J 



In the summer of 1914, the author obtained four Hymenopterous 

 parasites from the bud moth {Euzosma ocellana), which have been 



