243 



Anstead (R. D.). Xyleboms Beetles. — Planters' Chron., Coimbatore^ 

 XV, no. 11, 13th March 1920, p. 179. 



The most important beetle of the genus Xyleboms, namely, 

 X. fornicalus (shot- hole borer of tea) does not appear to occur in South 

 India. Two other species have however been discovered on South 

 Indian estates ; X. compacius attacks the stems of Cojfea lobnsla, 

 which is apparently its only food-plant. It is not certain that this 

 is really a primary pest ; it may be merely a borer in dead wood. 

 The remedy appears to be to cut out all attacked shoots well back to 

 the healthy wood and burn them, any wounds made being coated 

 with tar. X. biporus is a small borer that attacks Hevea, but is a 

 secondary pest infesting only wood or bark already killed by other 

 causes. The remedy is to treat such wounds as quickly as possible 

 after they are made. Logs of Hevea are rapidly attacked by these 

 borers after thinning-out operations. 



GowDEY (C. C). Report of the Government Entomologist. — Uganda 

 ^ Dept. Agric. Ann. Rept. Year ended 31st March 1919, Entebbe,. 



1920, pp. 36—40. [Received 8th April 1920.] 



Insect pests of cofTee that have not been dealt with in previous 

 reports include Anthores leuconotus, Pasc. (white coffee stem-borer), 

 which has been very destructive in Tanganyika Territory, and was 

 discovered in Uganda in 1900. Diarthwthnps cqffeae. Will., was 

 reported from two districts as causing considerable loss to coffee 

 [R.A.E., A, vii, 260]. Antestia lineaticollis, Stal {orbitalis, Westw., 

 var. fac?fa, Germ.), has not apparently been so abundant or so 

 injurious as in the prececUng year [loc. cit.], and tliis was particularly 

 noticeable on an estate where the rearing of its egg-parasites was 

 systematically carried out. The scale, Asterolecanium cqffeae, Newst., 

 was reported from some districts ; on one estate where the predaceous 

 Coccinellid, CMlocorus discoideus. Crotch, had been destroyed owing 

 to ignorance of its utiUty, the pest appeared in large numbers. 



Among cacao pests mentioned in the previous year's report a 

 species of Nggmia (pod-moth) was wrongly recorded as Euprocfis 

 mediosquamosa, B.-Bak. [loc. cit.]. Another pod-moth, Ph'horopora 

 carpella, Wlsm., apparently only attacks pods previously infected with 

 pod-rot. The scale, Stictococcus diversiseta, Silv., has been found to be 

 parasitised by a Chalcidid, AetJiognafhus afer var. cavilabris, Wtrst., 

 \R.A.E., A, v., 456]. A previously unrecorded cotton pest is a 

 phytophagous beetle, Chlorifa facialis, Jac, which feeds on the under- 

 side of the leaves and within the bracts. 



Sagar-cane at Kampala was found to be attacked by Pseudococcus 

 sp. and Chionaspis madiunensis, Zehnt. The latter scale is new to 

 Uganda and has probably been imported from Java. On bananas, 

 Aspidiolus destructor. Sign. (Bourbon scale) is widely distributed, but 

 shows a preference for the red variety. 



Cosmopolites soididus. Germ, (banana borer) has lately become rather 

 important as a banana pest. This weevil, besides occurring on the 

 mainland, has been collected on Biikassa Island, Sesse Group, 

 which has been uninhabited for years, and it is probably not therefore 

 a recent introduction. It is always found on old banana plots where 



