593 



the manner of Lev nana. The mature larva drops to the ground and 

 spins a flat cocoon on the upper sides of leaves or grasses ; a few 

 remain on the tree and pupate on the lower side of the leaves. Many 

 were collected, and Chalcid parasites were reared from upwards of 

 50 per cent, of them. A Braconid was also obtained ; probably 

 it is parasitic on the Chalcid. A large spathe-boring larva destroyed 

 a great deal of the inflorescence ; this is thought to be the same as the 

 species recorded by Jepson in 1915 [K.A.E., A, iv, 1221. A small 

 Pyralid was also observed, generally attacking the young nuts. This 

 is apparently Harpagonettra complena, Boisd., previously bred by Jepson 

 from Taviuni. Further data are needed regarding both of these insects ; 

 it may be possible to devise a method of trapping the former as it 

 descends to the ground for pupation. Diocalanira [Calandra) taitensis 

 was found in several nuts, and the larvae were boring at the bases 

 of the leaves, but this weevil does not seem to be dangerous at present. 

 Stick insects [Graeffea cocophaga, Newp.] were very abundant in places ; 

 smoke often causes them to drop, while burning the undergrowth 

 destroys the eggs in large numbers. The Australian magpie has been 

 introduced into Taviuni against this pest. An unidentified fruit-fly 

 damaged from h to 1 per cent, of the total crop by attacking the fallen 

 nuts, which seem always to have lost their calyx in falling. The 

 maggots enter the nut through the eye and turn the contents into a 

 slim}/ mass. When mature they pupate in the ground. If the nuts 

 were hand-picked for 12 or 18 months and not allowed to lie on the 

 ground, this pest would probably disappear. It is suggested that 

 planters should leave small areas of native bush in the centre of their 

 estates as breeding grounds for birds, and flowering trees about the 

 houses would attract insectivorous ones, which would be an important 

 aid in control. 



The Histerid beetle, Plaesins javanns, which was introduced into 

 Fiji from Java as an enemy of Cosmopolites sordidus (banana borer), 

 has recently been recovered for the first time since three months after 

 it was liberated, eight years ago. The banana borer is noticeably 

 less abundant on the estate where this beetle was taken than in other 

 plantations visited. 



The fruit-fly, Daciis passiflorae, which does considerable damage to 

 granadillas, oranges and mandarins, lives through a large portion of 

 the year in guava fruits. As many as 25 per cent, of a Braconid 

 parasite have been reared from infested guavas, and it seems probable 

 that it keeps the fly in check during the greater part of the year, and 

 it is only after the citrus crop begins to ripen that the fly finds the 

 peel of the orange a suflficiently thick protection for its larva against the 

 ovipositor of the Braconid. In view of the reopened citrus trade 

 with New Zealand it is suggested that fruit for export should be grown 

 in proper orchards, and that no guavas be allowed near them if possible ; 

 that all infested oranges and granadillas should be collected every 

 week and burnt ; that orchards should be registered and inspected, 

 and that any fruit grown elsewhere should be charged double rates 

 for repacking, and export of it forbidden after a certain date. 



Veitch (R.). The Partial Success of the Tachinid Parasite of the 

 Sugar-Cane Beetle Borer. — Agric. Circ. Fiji Dept. Agric, Suva, 

 ii, no. 3, June 1921, pp. 46-47. [Received 18th October 1921.] 



The various attempts that have been made to introduce the 

 fly, Ceromasia sphcnopJiori, Vill., from Hawaii into Fiji, as an 



