418 



Hvmenopterous pests include :— OecopJiylla smaragdina, F., which 

 would be useful owing to its predatory habits if it did not tend the 

 coconut scales, Lepidosaphes pinnaeformis and Aspidiotus destructor. 

 Its nests should be burnt, or cut off and submerged in water. 



Coleoptera. The Curculionid, RhijyichopJiorus ferrugineus, Oliv., is 

 one of the two chief pests of the coconut, the other being the Dynastid, 

 Orycfes rhinoceros, L. R. ferrugineus also attacks the palm, Areri^a 

 saccharifera. Collection is the control advised. Rhabdocnemis inter- 

 rupt ocostata, Schauf., can be very dangerous and, like Rhyncophorus 

 ferrugineus, infests cuts made by the natives in order to facilitate 

 climbing. It is also found in the newly-formed fruit when these are 

 attacked by Melissobhptes rufovenaUs. It is probably identical wath 

 R. obscurus, Boisd., described by Zacher as a coconut pest in Samoa 

 and known from Hawaii and Fiji as infesting coconut, banana and 

 sugar-cane. Diocalandra frumenti, F. {stignwticoUis, Gyl.), has habits 

 similar to those of R. interruptocostata. Koningsberger states that the 

 larvae of Protocerius colossus, Oliv. , Omotemmus miniatocrinitus, Chev. , 

 and Cyrtotrachelus sp. are found within the stem. They are not 

 dangerous, as they occur in limited numbers. The Hispid, Botryonojxi 

 sanguinea, Guer., which feeds on the leaves, cannot be considered a 

 dangerous pest as yet, but Brontispa longissima, Gestro, which attacks 

 3'oung palms under five years of age only, does such injury as to 

 warrant control by removing and destroying the infested leaves. The 

 Dynastid, Oryctes rhinoceros, L., is well known as the chief enemy of 

 the coconut palm ; measures for its control are fully described. 

 Another Dynastid, Xylotrupes gideon, injures the young leaves in the 

 crown. This beetle is abundant on Murraya exotica and Poinciana 

 regia. According to Froggatt, X. nimrod (a synonym of X. gideon) 

 causes the same injury as 0. rhinoceros. The Lucanid, Eurytrachelus 

 jnlosipes, Waterh., was reported by Zacher as a serious pest of young 

 palms in the Solomon Islands, boring into the trunlc and leaf-bases. 

 In Samoa Alcimus dilatatus, Fairm., was found by Gehrmann in 

 decayed trunks and leaf-stems, and it also appeared to be a pest of 

 sugar-cane. Preuss reported Eurytrachelus intermedius, Gestro, and 

 Metopodontus cinctus, Gestro, as injuring the flower-buds. The author 

 lists the following Lucanids as injuring flower-buds in the Malay 

 Archipelago, while it is not improbable that they injure the trunlc and 

 the leaf-stems in the crown also : — Eurytrachelus buce])halus, Perty, 

 E. gypaetus. Cast., Odontolabis bellicosus, Cast., Metopodontus occipitalis, 

 Hope, and Prosopocoelus zebra, Oliv. The first three are the more 

 abundant. 



Lepidoptera. Melissoblaptes rufovenaUs, SnelL, was first noticed in 

 1914 in Java and has since spread over the whole island. The author 

 holds this borer to be quite as dangerous in Java as Oryctes rhinoceros. 

 The young caterpillars occur in the newly-opened flower-sheath where 

 they feed on the male and female flowers. The failure of entire crops 

 may be traced to this insect, which is not checked by the two natural 

 enemies observed, an Ichneumonid and an earwig {Exypnus pulchri- 

 pennis), which latter is of great importance. The caterpillars of the 

 Noctuid, Simplicia marginata, Moore, are a leaf- eating pest of the 

 coconut. An unidentified Limacodid caterpillar found around and on 

 the trimks of the palms is feared by the coolies on account of its 

 .stinging spines. Outbreaks of the Zygaenid, Brachartona catoxantha, 



