177 



immediate application of remedial measures in cases of infestation, 

 it is pointed out that the latter does not necessarily make tea-growing 

 unremunerative. 



On one estate H. antonii occurred mainly on tea beneath Sesbania 

 aegyptiaca, and the parts most attacked were those in the shade of 

 these plants, which were themselves infested with this and other 

 bugs. There was no infestation in neighbouring plantations where 

 the tea was grown beneath Tephrosia. After felling and burning 

 the Sesbania and uprooting the stumps, collection was prosecuted 

 very energetically, and one-and-a-half weeks later the Helopeltis had 

 entirely disappeared, a considerable loss being thus prevented. 



Leefmans (S.). Aanteekeningen over Voedsterplanten van Helopeltis. 

 [Notes on the Food-plants of Helopeltis.] — De Thee, Buitenzorg, i, 

 no. 3, September 1920, pp. 77-78, 2 plates. [Received 7th 

 February 1921.] 



Adults and eggs of Helopeltis antonii var. bradyi are recorded on. 

 Fuchsia coccinea, growing at an altitude of approximately 4,800 feet, 

 but no larvae could be found. Though tea was attacked under labora- 

 tory conditions, plants growing about 300 feet away from the Fuchsia 

 remained uninfested. Similar observations have led observers to 

 suppose that Helopeltis is not a fixed pest of tea, but the author does 

 not agree, his view being that too little is known about these Capsids, 

 especially as regards the inheritance of morphological and bionomic 

 characters in the various species or races. For this reason research 

 into the genetics of these bugs would be justified, quite as much so as 

 the quest for remedies. 



In his garden at Buitenzorg, Dr. Rant found infestation on Begonia, 

 Cuphea micropetala, and Wormia suffniticosa, so that these must be 

 added to the list of food-plants. He also noticed that the upper 

 branches of nangka [Artocarpus] were first attacked, and then the 

 lower branches, the insects finally migrating to Begonia and the other 

 plants mentioned. This leads the author to think that the reason 

 why Helopeltis has not been observed in virgin forests may be the 

 fact that infestation occurs among the tall trees, and that Helopeltis 

 only occasionally descends from such elevated situations. An ex- 

 amination of any injury met with when felling in a virgin forest is 

 therefore desirable. 



•Circular on Helopeltis in Sumatra. — De Thee, Buitenzorg, i, no. 3, 

 September 1920, pp. 82-83. [Received 7th February 1921.] 



This circular of the Director of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce 

 for the Dutch East Indies draws attention to the fact that Helopeltis 

 iheivora and H. antonii are now known to occur in Sumatra, and points 

 out the danger attending attempts to conceal the presence of these 

 pests on tea estates. 



Hansen (D.). The Work of the Huntley Reclamation Project Ex- 

 periment Farm [Osborn, Montana] in 1918. Sugar Beet Root 

 Louse Control. — U.S. Dept. Agric. Washington, D.C., Dept. 

 Circ. 86, April 1920, pp. 16-17. 



Experiments in connection with the control of the sugar-beet root- 

 louse [Pemphigus betae] by means of increased irrigation were con- 

 tinued in 1918 [R.A.E., A, iii, 578; vii, 141]. the results show 



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