481 



to investigate further the activities of this bug. On one estate the 

 palms were severely attacked by Phasmids, which killed one tree. 

 Promecotheca reichei (coconut leaf -miner) was very destructive m some 

 localities, though it is generally kept in check by a Hymenopterous 

 parasite. It is thought that stormy weather produces a high mortahty 

 among these parasites and consequently is often followed by an 



increase of the pest. . i u u-+ 



Yams in storage are attacked by a borer that m its larval habits 

 closely resembles Cosmopolites sordidiis m bananas. Careful search 

 should be made among stored yams, and damaged ones should be 

 removed from the heap and fumigated with carbon bisulphide or 



hvdrocyanic acid gas. ^ -, i r i 



"The beetle Sitodrepn ( Anohium) panicea, does a great deal ot damage 

 to books in' Fiji, bindings being almost completely destroyed, and 

 many official records would be rendered valueless if left untreated. 

 Bookcases were fumigated twice with hydrocyanic acid gas, and enor- 

 mous numbers of dead larvae and pupae were found. The egg-stage 

 of this beetle averages twelve days and the pupal period about eight. 

 A species of Diaspis exercises a very effective control over the 

 troublesome weed, Stachvtarpheta dkhotoma. The scale has not 

 yet been identified, and may prove to be one already known to be 

 "destructive to economic plants. 



A consignment of potatoes from Australia was destroyed owing 

 to the presence of Phthoriniaea opercitleUa {Lita solanella). 



G\GE (T H) The Larvae of the Coccinellidae.— ///wojs Biol. 



Monographs, Urhana, vi, no. 4, October 1920, 62 pp., 6 plates. 



[Received 3rd August 1921.] 



This paper records investigations on the morphology of Coccinellid 



larvae occurring in Illinois and includes tables for the identification 



of a few of the commoner species. 



Ballou (H a.). Pink Bollworm in the West Indies.— Agric. Neivs, 



Barbados, xx, no. 500, 25th June 1921, p. 202. 

 The pink bollworm [Platyedm gossvpieUa] has now become distri- 

 buted throughout the Leeward and British Virgin Islands but has not 

 as yet been recorded from the islands of St. Eustatius, St. Martin or 

 St Bartholomew, nor south of Montserrat. In St. Kitts, Nevis and 

 Montserrat cleaning-up processes [R. A.E., A, ix, 99] have been carried 

 out with with great thoroughness, and it is hoped that a reasonable 

 degree of control has been obtained. WTiile the importance of early 

 planting is recognised, the weather conditions are freciuently so un- 

 certain as seriously to hamper the proper execution of remedial measures. 

 Efforts are being made to eradicate all wild cotton plants from the 

 islands in which thev occur, thus removing a source of danger from both 

 pink bollworm and cotton-stainers [Dysdercus spp.]. Great advantage 

 would be gained if all cotton seed were treated at the ginneries, as m 

 Egypt, so that there would be no movement of infested seed. 



Froggatt (W. W.). Some Useful Australian Birds.— Sv^n^y, N.S.W. 



Dept. Agric, 1921, 85 pp., 61 col. plates. Price 10s. 6d. 



The material from which this book is largely compiled began to 



appear in 1896, in a series of papers by the late Mr. A. J. ^orth. A 



second edition was prepared some 16 years later, but its publication 



