707 



At night they come to the surface and feed on the herbage on a level 

 with the ground. While feeding, they cover themselves with a 

 protective film of soil-particles loosely held together with strands of 

 silk. The larvae of these two species are very similar and vary from 

 li to 4 inches in length. Pupation normally occurs about September 

 and the moths are on the wing from the latter part of October until 

 well on in the new year. The larvae are voracious feeders, and when 

 they are at all abundant, large bare patches are formed. In many 

 instances the damage is attributed to the grass-grub, but the ground 

 on land infested with Patina is not so spongy to the tread as when 

 Odontria larvae are plentiful. Again, the casts formed when the larvae 

 are feeding are always seen dotted about the surface of the ground. 

 These casts superficially resemble those of earth-worms, but are much 

 more friable and are also loosely held together by the silk. Injury is 

 often done to various vegetable and root crops, such as potatoes and 

 turnips. Porina signata is common in flax [Phormium tenax] swamps, 

 and bores large holes in the butts of the flax-plants, often causing an 

 injurious rot to develop. In controlhng the pest on small areas, such 

 as lawns, the following method of using carbon bisulphide gave good 

 results : — three parts of carbon bisulphide were mixed with one part 

 of phenyl, and 2 oz. of this mixture was used in 2 gals, of water for 

 every square yard of ground treated. The dilute emulsion was poured 

 on the surface of the ground with an ordinary watering can, and 

 within twenty-four hours all the larvae were killed without any 

 injury being done to the grass. This method is not, howevfer, 

 suitable for large areas. 



Jarvis (E.). Report to the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations. — 



Queensland Agric. JL, Brisbane, iv, no. 2, August 1915, pp. 92-93. 



The larva of an undetermined Elaterid beetle, which occurs sparinglv 

 in volcanic and sandy soils around Gordonvale, attacks both adult 

 and grub forms of the cane beetle. A specimen collected on 6th 

 November 191-1, killed and devoured no less than 126 large cane grubs 

 and 4 grey-back beetles during a period of seven months, and was 

 still in the larval stage on the -Ith June 1915 and as greedy as ever. 



Scott (W. M.). New developments in spraying materials. — Rept. 

 Maryland State Hortic. Soc, College Park, Md., xvii (1914), 1st 

 March 1915, pp. 95-104. [Received 20th September 1915.] 



There has long been a desire to substitute dry lime-sulphur or its 

 equivalent for lime-sulphur solution, owing to its objectionable bulk. 

 A substitute was found in barium [see this Review, Ser. A, iii, p. 448] 

 as a carrier for the sulphur, with which it forms similar compounds. 

 The expectation that barium-sulphur would have the same insecticidal 

 and fungicidal properties as lime-sulphur was fully realised. In a 

 number of experiments conducted against the San Jose scale 

 [Aspidioius 2)erniciosus] in six different States, varying in climatic 

 conditions from Georgia to New York, no instance was observed of 

 any material difference in the insecticidal effects of barium-sulphur 

 and lime-sulphur. The results of an experiment conducted at Hancock, 



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