276 



Although Orycies spp. were found in great numbers in Ceylon and 

 comparatively very little is done to combat them there, their presence 

 does not apparently interfere seriously with coconut cultivation. 

 The Ceylon palms evidently possess certain properties that enable 

 them to resist the ravages of these beetles, and it is possible that they 

 would still prove resistant if cultivated in Samoa. 



All observations show that clean cultivation and the destruction 

 of breeding places are the essential remedial measures in combating 

 these pests ; where this work is neglected even the natural enemies, 

 which include birds, rodents, Scoliid wasps and the fungus, Meta- 

 rrhizium anisopliae, are not of much use in keeping down the numbers. 



The author calls attention to the fact that in a previous notice 

 [R.A.E., A, V, 291] Scolia erratica, which is a parasite of Rhyncho- 

 phorus' fernigineus in the Straits Settlements, was erroneously stated 

 to be also a parasite of Oryctes. 



KocK (K.). Die Wirkung nikotinhaltiger Dampfe auf den Heuwurm. 



[The Action of Nicotine Vapours on the First Generation of 

 Vine Moths.] — Zeitschr. landiv. Versuchswesen in Oesterreich, 

 Vienna, xvii, no. 6-7, June-July 1914, pp. 638-641, 1 fig. 

 [Received 23rd April 1920.] 



Nicotine sprays are in general iise against vine moths [Clysia 

 ambiguella and Polychrosis botrana] and a dust containing '45 per cent, 

 of nicotine has also given good results. Nicotine vapour provides 

 a third method of checking these pests and a knapsack generator 

 for producing it has been placed on the market, but this model is 

 dangerous to the operator as the steam employed as a carrier for the 

 nicotine is raised by means of a spirit lamp. Another type, here 

 described, consists of a 5-gallon boiler mounted on two wheels, and 

 the nicotine-impregnated steam is led through hose pipes to the spray 

 nozzles. In the course of a trial steam was raised in 40 minutes and 

 in 45 minutes 3 workers dealt with 380 stocks. It was not possible 

 to gauge the action of the nicotine as too few moths were present, but 

 the weight of this apparatus and its cost [£12 in 1914] are against it. 

 Other experiments showed that nicotine vapour has bad effects on the 

 workers and does not appear to kill more than half of the moths. 



Chase (W. W.). Experimental Dusting and Spraying of Peaches for 



1919. — Georgia State Bd. Entom., Atlanta, Circ. 30, March 1920, 

 13 pp. 



The dusting of peaches, as a substitute for spraying, obtained a 

 wide usage by the summer of 1919. The season was an unprecedented 

 one as regards rainfall and lack of sunshine, and consequent infestation 

 by brown rot, while the abnormal abundance of curculio [Conotrachelus 

 nenuphar ] rendered it an unusual opportunity for tests of dusting and 

 spraying, emphasising the deficiencies of each and indicating what is 

 needed to correct them. The tests carried out by the State Board of 

 Entomologv were a continuation of a series begun some years previously 

 [R.A.E., A, V, 264.] 



