517 



in cleaning all old wounds and cutting out all the infested wood. All 

 healthy tissue thus exposed should be covered with a protective 

 dressing such as paint, tar, resin oil and tar, or Trinidad crude oil. 



Pineapples were damaged in 1920 by the attacks of a large weevil, 

 black in colour with delicate white lines. The weevils hide in the day 

 in the axils of the leaf. The larvae live in the stalk of the fruit, tun- 

 nelling through its entire length and even penetrating into the fruit 

 and crown. The adults puncture the stalk, fruit and crown, and the 

 suckers at the base of the fruit. Well-cultivated plants, kept free 

 from weeds and from shade, have never been found to be attacked. 



Wellhouse (W. H.). The Hawthorn Blossom Weevil {Anthonomus 

 nehulosus, Lec). — Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer., Columbus, Ohio, xiv, 

 no. 2, June 1921, pp. 141-144, 1 fig. 



Anthonomus nehulosus, Lec, is one of the most injurious insects 

 found on hawthorn, the larger flowered species, such as Crataegus 

 punctata, C. brainerdi, C. pruinosa and C. mollis, being apparently 

 preferred as food-plants. This weevil is probably to be found wherever 

 the food-plants exist east of the Rocky Mountains. There is no record 

 of its occurrence outside North America. 



The weevils hibernate in curled, dried leaves on the ground beneath 

 the food-plant. About mid- April they appear on the tree and feed 

 ravenously on the green buds. Feeding continues during suitable 

 weather until the clusters have separated enough for oviposition. The 

 weevils are inactive at temperatures below 50° F., the optimum tempera- 

 ture ranging from 60° to 70° F. Provided the temperature is sufficiently 

 high, they will feed during rainy orcloudy days and at night. Oviposition 

 occurs about 15th May at Ithaca and coincides with the period between 

 the opening of the blossom clusters and the opening of the blossoms 

 themselves. The eggs are deposited in the blossom buds and hatch in 

 about a week. The larva develops inside the bud, feeding on all the 

 internal parts of the flower, and pupates after about a fortnight. The 

 adults emerge about a week later, and begin at once to feed on the 

 young thorns or fruit. They have never been noticed feeding on 

 leaves or tender twigs, although occasionally found attacking succulent 

 globular leaf galls of Cecidomyiid larvae. In captivity they also feed 

 on young apples. They enter hibernation about July. Their natural 

 enemies include birds, especially sparrows, and the parasites, Catolaccus 

 hunteri, Cwfd., Sigalphus sp., and Habrocytus piercei, Cwfd. 



MuiR (F.). The Fern Weevil in Austraha. — Hawaiian Planters 

 Record, Honolulu, xxv, no. 1, July 1921, pp. 2-3. 



A consignment of a parasite of the fern weevil, Syagrius fulvitarsis, 

 has been received in Honolulu from New South Wales. This parasite 

 has been identified as belonging to the genus Ischiogonus. Several 

 adults have been liberated and others kept for breeding in captivity. 



A letter from Mr. Pemberton, who sent the parasites from New 

 South Wales, gives an account of his observations on them. He is 

 convinced that 5. fulvitarsis is a native species there, and though 

 widely distributed, is kept well under control by the parasite. The 

 normal parasitism of the larvae was only about 10 per cent., but a 

 rapid increase of the weevil can easily raise this percentage. 



The female of Ischiogonus sp. deposits from one to five eggs on the 

 host larva, but they are deposited singly, the ovipositor being forced 



