210 



Speyer (E. U.). Shot-hole Borer {Xyleborus fornicatus, Eich.). 

 Treatment of Prunings on Infected Estates. — Ceylon Dept. Agric. 

 Peradeniya, Bull. 43, March 1919, 16 pp. [Received 27tli March 

 1920.] 



Details are given of experiments in dealing with the prunings from 

 tea bushes infested with Xyleborus fornicatus, Eich. From branches- 

 left on the ground after pruning, all pupae in the galleries that are 

 within four days of maturity will become adults and emerge with those 

 insects that are already adult within the galleries, whether the season 

 is wet or dry. In wet seasons, all mature beetles, pupae and late 

 larval stages will complete development and emerge. When prunings 

 are buried from 4 to 18 inches below ground level, development in the 

 woody stems proceeds normally for at least 30 days, and adult females 

 may continue to emerge from the soil for a period of 56 days in dry 

 weather and for a shorter period in heavy rains. In effect a full 

 generation can develop beneath the soil, and adults can emerge from 

 the greatest depth to which it is profitable to bury prunings. Des- 

 troying the insects in buried prunings by fumigation or insecticidal 

 solutions is not practicable owing to the heavy expense and the danger 

 involved. 



While burning the prunings destroys all insects, the loss of manurial 

 constitutents to the soil precludes the adoption of this method. The 

 best plan therefore is to cut the leaves and smaller wood up to the 

 thickness of a pencil from the branches immediately after pruning, 

 and to bury them in holes of suitable size. The maximum amount of 

 borer infestation in these will be 4 per cent, of the total in the prunings. 

 The larger wood should then be carried to the roadside and burnt, 

 the ashes being used as manure. The cost involved is not much greater 

 than that of burying prunings wholesale. 



Speyer (E. E.) Shot-hole Borer {Xyleborus fornicatus, Eich.). A 

 Control Pruning Scheme, and its Practical Modification. — Ceylon 

 Dept. Agric, Peradeniya, Bull. 44, June 1919, 8 pp. [Received 

 27th March 1920.] 



This bulletin describes in detail the pruning operations for tea 

 bushes infested with Xyleborus fornicatus (shot-hole borer) recommended 

 elsewhere [R.A.E., A, viii, 110]. 



Robinson (E. N.). The Prickly Pear ; Enemy Pests to he tried. — 



Science & Industry, Melbourne, ii, no. 1, January 1920, pp. 45- 

 51, 4 figs. 



The bulk of the information contained in this paper has been noticed 

 elsewhere [R.A.E., A., vii. 481]. 



Williams (F. X.). A Note on the Habits of Epactiothynnus opaciventris , 

 Turner, an Austrahan Thynnid Wasp. — Psyche, Boston, Mass., 

 xxvi, no. 6, December 1919, pp. 160-162, 2 figs. [Received 25th 

 March 1920.] 



Epactiothynnus opaciventris is apparently the most abundant 

 Thynnid in North Queensland. The plant that is most attractive to the 



