420 



J. C. HuTSON. Some Weevils of the genus Diaprepes in the West 

 Indies. — Agric. News, Barbados, xvi, no. 395, 16th June 1917, 

 p. 186. 



The weevils of the genus Diaprepes (which are adults of the root 

 borer grubs) occurring in the West Indies form two distinct groups, 

 some being varieties of Diaprepes abbrcviatus and some of D. famelicus. 

 A table is given showing the different varieties in each group and their 

 distribution in the Islands. 



Feytaud (J.). La Courtili§re {Grylhtalpa vulgaris, Latr.). [The Mole- 

 cricket.] — Bull. Soc. d^ Etude Vulg. Zool. Agric, Bordeaux, xvi, 

 no. 6, June 1917, pp. 49-56, 1 fig. 



Notes on the life-history and habits of the mole-cricket [Gryllotalpa 

 gryllotalpa, L.], which is a pest of garden plants and young crops in 

 France, are given in this paper. Methods of control include the 

 following :— Young and delicate plants should be screened in as a 

 protection from the insect. Naphthaline spread about the ground in 

 the proportion of 4| oz. to the square yard is said to repel the crickets ; 

 rags soaked in paraffin would serve the same purpose. Phosphorus 

 and arsenical pastes for poisoning the insects, and the use of calcium 

 carbide for asphyxiating them by freeing the acetylene in the soil are 

 also suggested, but these methods are as yet in the experimental 

 stage. Carbon bisulphide injections may be employed towards the 

 end of September or in mid- winter. The injections should be made 

 early in the morning, in dry soil, using f oz. to f oz. per square yard 

 in four injections about 6 to 8 in. deep in September or 1 ft. deep in 

 February. The holes should at once be closed up. In June and July 

 the position of nests is easily located, and when dug up intact, the 

 eggs can all be crushed or burned ; if the nest is broken by the pick 

 the young will die in great numbers. The galleries can be located by 

 levelling the soil, raking and watering. The following night the 

 crickets form new galleries and openings, and on turning up the soil 

 the shelters are laid bare and can be treated with water, paraffin 

 emulsion or any other insecticide. Various traps resembling miniature 

 rat-traps have been devised without great success in proportion to 

 their cost. Bait-traps are better ; these are earthenware or metal 

 pots sunk into the ground into which the crickets fall and cannot 

 escape. A little water should be put in them. Shelter-traps are more 

 effective. Damp matting or wicker baskets, or slices of pumpkin 

 all attract and shelter some individuals, but the best shelter-trap is 

 made by spreading farm manure in shallow trenches some 10 or 12 

 inches deep every 4 or 5 yards. This should be laid in September, and 

 in mid-winter the manure is turned up, exposing the crickets, which 

 can be destroyed en ?nasse. This is probably the most effective, the 

 least expensive, and least troublesome method of control. 



RouLLARD (F. p.). The Mediterranean Fig Scale {Lepidosaphes ficus). 

 — Mthly. Bull. Cal. State Commiss. Hortic, Sacramento, vi, no. 6, 

 June 1917, pp. 246-248, 4 figs. 



Lepidosaphes ficus was introduced into California on fig cuttings 

 from Algeria in 1904-1906, and the pest has now spread over an area 



