495 



in Queensland, and D. curvipennis has been recorded in bananas from 

 Fiji. A Nematode, Heterodera radicicola, injures bananas in 

 Trinidad, Fiji, New South Wales and Queensland. Bees and locusts 

 also damage the fruits. 



Vanderyst (H.). Contributions 4 I'Etude du Palmier k Huile au 

 Congo Beige. — Bull. Agric. Congo Beige, Brussels, xii, no. 2, 

 June 1921, pp. 305-352, 12 figs. 



This paper is one of a series dealing with the oil palm [Elaeis) in 

 the Belgian Congo. The commonest insect pests of this palm are 

 Oryctes monoceros, 01., 0. boas, F., and RhynchopJionis phoenicis, F. 

 The latter is particularly harmful, as it attacks the fruit-clusters, 

 constructing galleries in the peduncle. The larval galleries of both 

 genera of beetles have been found penetrating to the heart of the fruit- 

 clusters. An undetermined Scarabaeid is also found, and a beetle, 

 thought to be a species of Xylotriipes, occurs on the trunk, but it 

 is not known to what degree it is injurious. A scale of the genus 

 Aspidiotus is found on the leaves and fruit, but the trees do not 

 apparently suffer much in consequence. 



Smits van Burgst (C. A. L). Parasieten van het Meelmotje {Ephestia 

 kuhniella, Zeller). [Parasites of the Meal Moth, E. kuhnielln.] — 

 Tijdschy. Plantenziekten, Wageningen, xxvii, no. 7, July 1921, 

 pp. 77-79. 



The best known natural enemy of the meal-moth, Ephestia kuhniella, 

 Z., is an Ichneumonid, Nemeritis canescens, Grv., but it is not quite so 

 generally distributed as its host. It appears to be a monophagous 

 parasite, only found indoors. 



It is not generally known that the Braconid, Habrohracon brevicornis, 

 Wesm., may be of much greater value than N. canescens in checking 

 the meal-moth, as its reproductive power is much greater. Marshall 

 mentions an instance where, on the tennination of an outbreak of 

 the meal-moth in an English flour store, myriads of the Braconid parasite 

 were present. The female lives about 6 weeks and may deposit 

 up to twelve eggs in one caterpillar. Under favourable conditions the 

 entire development from egg to adult maj^ be completed in twelve 

 days, whereas N. canescens needs from 3 to 7 weeks. Both parasites 

 seem to require warmth for rapid reproduction. In both, partheno- 

 genetic reproduction may occur. In the case of H. brevicornis this 

 method yields males only ; whereas Dr. Paul Kruger has observed 

 that the parthenogenetic eggs of N. canescens yield females only. 



In Europe, H. brevicornis is known to the author from Belgium, 

 England and Germany, 



VAN Slogteren (E.). Hoe zijn Stellingen, Zolders of Zakken, die op 

 eene o£ andere Manier door aaltjeszieke Narcissen zijn besmet, te 

 ontsmetten ? [How is it possible to cleanse Places, Stores and 

 Sacks contaminated by Narcissi infested with Nematodes ?] — 

 Weckblad voor BloembollencuHuur, xxxi, no. 77, 25th March 1921. 

 (Abstract in Tijdschr. Plantenziekten, Wageningen, xxvii, no. 7, 

 July 1921, pp. 84-86.) 



Chances of infestation by Nematodes in bulbs are decreased by the 

 most scrupulous cleanliness in all operations connected with cultivation. 



