471 



Geschwind ( — ). Die Nutzlichkeit der Alpendohle. [The Useful- 

 ness of the Alpine Crow.] — Oesterr. Forst- u. Jagdzeitung, Vienna, 

 xxxvii, 1919, p. 111. {Ahstract in Zeitschr. PJianzenkr.. Stuttgart, 

 XXX, no. 4-5, 1920, p. 199.) 



In winter the Alpine or mountain crow migrates to the valleys, where 

 it tears open the larval nests of Cnefhocampa pityocampa, Schffn., 

 and feeds on the half-grown caterpillars. C. jntyocampa is found up 

 to an altitude of about 4,000 feet, occurring on Pinus leucodermis. 

 Its importance in forestry lies in the fact that it precedes bark-beetles 

 that infest the crowns of the trees, such as Pilijogenes bidentatus, 

 Hbst., P. bistridentatus, Eich., P. guadridens, Htg., and Ips acuminatus, 

 Gyll. These are, in their turn, followed by Myelophilus minor, Htg., 

 infesting the trunks. 



Report on the Department of Agriculture, 1917-18, Barbados, 1920. 

 35 pp. [Received 2nd September 1920.] 



The manurial experiments with sugar-cane [R.A.E., A, vi, 393] still 

 fail to show any definite results owing to the infestation of the canes 

 by the root-borer, Diaprepes abbreviatus, L., and the brown hardback 

 Pkytalus smitJii, Arr. The loss consequent upon this infestation is 

 estimated at 442 tons of cane, or about £6 155. Od. per acre ; the 

 numbers of these beetles are still increasing, and digging out the old 

 cane holes and destroying the larvae seem to have but httle effect on 

 the severity of the infestation. Very little effort is made by the 

 majority of planters to collect either pest during the oviposition period 

 or to dig up the stumps and destroy the grubs within them. 



Cotton seed imported for the extraction of oil and for the manufacture 

 of cotton seed meal is fumigated wdth sulphur dioxide, but the process 

 is evidently not effective, as living moths and beetles have been found 

 on the seed after fumigation has been carried out. Dying sugar-canes 

 were found to be badly attacked by the moth-borer, Diatraea saccJiaralis. 

 On one estate caterpillars, identified as Cirphis microgonia, Hmp., 

 attacked the foliage on about three acres of young canes. Some of 

 these caterpillars were parasitised by a Tachinid, Peleferia robusta, 

 Wied. These parasites, assisted by dusting the canes with Paris green, 

 proved an efficient control. 



Trees infested w4th the green scale. Coccus viridis, were sprayed with 

 spores of Cephalosporiuni lecanii suspended in w^ater, and subsequent 

 examination proved that many of the scales were attacked by the 

 fungus. 



Cleare (L. D.). Annual Loss caused through Insects in British 



Guiana. — Jl. Bd. Agric. Brit. Guiana, Demerara, xiii, no. 3, Julv 

 1920, pp. 115-126. 



The annual loss due to insect attack in British Guiana is estimated 

 at over £1,000,000, without reckoning the injury caused to Hvestock 

 and man, or to forest products. 



The pests responsible for these enormous losses include : Castnia 

 licus, Drury (giant moth borer), Diatraea saccharaUs, F., D. canella, 

 Hmpsn., Dyscinetus bidentatus, Burm., Metamasius hemiptenis, F., 

 termites, and the mealy-bug, Pseudococcus sacchari, CkU., all of which 

 attack sugar-cane. 



