661 



and Pachim aquatica, known in Trinidad as " chataij^ne maron " 

 and in Surinam as wild or forest cacao. The eggs are laid at irregular 

 intervals during several weeks, never in wounds or cracks or on the 

 bark, but in a specially made bore-hole, at the fork or near the foot 

 of lateral branches or, in young trees, just above the soil. The larva 

 makes a spiral tunnel under the bark and ultimately rings the branch 

 or young stem. The adults do damage by gnawing the bark of the 

 young branches. In the author's opinion, the ordinary method of 

 combating this pest by excising the larvae often does more damage 

 than the pest itself. Trap trees such as Bombax ceiba or Hibiscus 

 esculentus have had some success in Surinam. Guppy recommends 

 branches of Pachira aquatica placed in heaps under the cacao trees 

 or hung from the branches, and at the same time spraying with arsenate 

 of lead ; prunings of cacao can also be used. Injection of carbon 

 bisulphide into the holes is not always successful, and whatever 

 other measures are adopted, hand-picking and collection of the beetles 

 must be vigorously carried on. [See this Review, Ser. A, i, pp. 122 

 and 425, and A, ii, p. 460]. 



Glenea novemguttata is the commonest and most destructive cacao- 

 borer in Java ; the eggs are laid singly in separate incisions in the 

 bark ; the tunnels are bored close under the surface of the bark, and 

 when fully grown the larvae bore into the wood and make a chamber 

 about an inch long in which they pupate. The remedies used in Java 

 are excision of the larvae and collection of the beetles ; Zehntner 

 recommended lime- washing the stems and branches ; dead branches 

 or prunings should never be left on the ground. This borer has 

 occasionally been found in Kapok trees {Eriodendron a'lifracLuosum). 

 Pelarcjoderus bipunctatus and Monochanms (Monohammus) fstulator 

 are also harmful cacao-borers in Java and in some cases the damage 

 done is very serious. The former also lives in canary trees {Canarium 

 commune) and in old pepper plants, and is also a pest of Ficus elastica 

 [see this Review Ser. A, ii, p. 535]. M. fistnJator attacks coffee and 

 castor oil plants, and an allied species, M. ruspafor, is a pest of cacao in 

 the Cameroons [see this Review, Ser. A, ii, p. 415]. The Buprestid, 

 Catoxanlha bicolor, F., was at one time a very serious pest of cacao 

 in Java, but of late years it has ceased to appear in large numbers. 

 This beetle is also found in Burma where, according to Stebbing, it 

 attacks pyinkadu trees in the forests. In Trinidad, Java and 

 elsewhere, various species of Xyleborus damage cacao [see this 

 Revieiv, Ser. A, i, pp. 350 and 513]. Zeuzera coffeae is comparatively 

 common in Java and now and then causes serious damage. An allied 

 species, known as the San Thome borer does much damage in the 

 Cameroons and on the island of San Thome. 



HelojjeUis theivora and H. antonii are nearly as serious pests of 

 cacao as the cacao moth ; the former is prevalent in hot climates 

 whereas the latter is commoner in the cooler regions in Java. Another 

 species [H. bergrothi] has been described as damaging cacao on the 

 Gold Coast [see this Review, Ser. A, ii, p. 671]. The eggs are laid in 

 the young fruits and sometimes in young twigs ; the whole development 

 takes place in two or three Aveeks and the life of the adult is not less than 

 2.^ to 3 months. The attack is most severe in the rainy season. In 

 Java the worst months are ^larch to May, and in Ceylon, December 

 and January. The question of how this insect survives the dry season 



