333 



Froggatt (W. AV.). The Powder-post Beetle and its Parasite. — 

 Agric. Gaz. N. S. W., Sydney, xxxi, no. 4, April 1920, pp. 273-276, 

 2 figs. 



The most destructive powder-post beetle in New South Wales is 

 Lyctus bninneus, the female of which oviposits in tlie outer surface or 

 sapwood of trees that have been cut down and the bark of which is 

 drying. The eggs or young larvae remain in the timber when it is 

 sawn up and used for building, and many generations of grubs may be 

 hatched, develop and emerge as adults after the furniture or building 

 is completed [R.A.E., A, vi, 390]. Rattan and cane chairs from the 

 East are particularly hable to infestation. In 1919 L. bnmneus 

 emerged from a badly-infested board of " blue fig " from Queensland, 

 accompanied by a Braconid parasite that is briefly described. This 

 is apparently the first record of any parasite of this beetle. 



Allen (W. J.) & Hogg (S. A.). Cherry Growing in New South 

 Wales. — Agric. Gaz. N. S. W., Sydney, xxxi, no. 4, April 1920, 

 pp. 277-279. 



Insects recorded as pests of cherry trees in New South Wales include 

 Maroga {Cryptophaga) unipunctana, Don. (cherry tree borer), the webs 

 of which should be removed, and the holes prodded with copper- wire 

 or treated with kerosene and then plugged up ; San Jose scale 

 [Aspidiotus perniciosus], for which sprays of resin, soda and fish-oil 

 should be given in the summer and Hme-sulphur solution in the winter ; 

 Rutherglen bug [Nysius vinitor], for which no satisfactory remedy is 

 known that will not injure the fruit ; and pear slug [Eriocampoides 

 limacind], for which the remedy is a spray of 2 lb. lead arsenate to 50 

 gals, water ; when infestation is severe the soil round the trunks of 

 the trees should be disturbed or lime applied so as to destroy the pupae 

 in the ground. 



Gallard (L.). Notes on the Dicky Rice Weevil {Prosayleus phytoly- 

 mus. OUifl). — Agric. Gaz. N. S. W., Sydney, xxxi, no. 4, April 1920, 

 pp. 280-284, 11 figs. 



Prosayleus phytolymus, Oil. (dicky rice weevil) has been a serious pest 

 of orchards and nurseries in New South Wales for the last fifteen years, 

 but it is only recently that the habits of the larvae have been discovered. 

 There are two generations in a year, the first emerging in October and 

 November and the second in February and March, that is, in con- 

 junction -with the starting of the two main periods of growth. The 

 adults attack the young shoots and in many cases eat the crown right 

 out or so damage the young shoot that its growth is stunted and 

 deformed. The tender leaves are eaten away in patches, the older ones 

 being scalloped at the edges, and the outer surface of the young fruit 

 is nibbled off in irregular blotches. Adults confined in a glass tube 

 with some soil oviposited under the surface, where the larvae hatched. 

 This indicated that the larvae may live in the soil, and examination 

 revealed them working on the roots of apple trees about 9 to 12 inches, 

 deep, where pupae also were found. The bark of the roots is corrugated 

 and nibbled away by the larger larvae. 



