499 



retarded, and an excess of moisture in the plant causes an overgrowth 

 of the fungus deposited by the beetles, which results in their death. 

 Old dadap trees [Erythrina indica] are very liable to attack by the 

 "borer, particularly after having been ringed for removal. The ringed 

 surface should be well scorched with a Swedish blow-flame from 

 7 to 40 davs after ringing. Good cultivation over a number of years 

 has undoubtedly rendered the attacks of the borer less serious. 



Remedial measures include the cutting out and burning of all castor- 

 oil plants and of all dieback branches, i.e., those which do not put 

 out new shoots after pruning, -within 2 months at low, 3 months at 

 medium, and 4 months, at high elevations. The woody parts of all 

 prunings should be burnt, and branches thinner than an ordinary 

 pencil, with the leaves, should be used as a mulch. The ash of the 

 burnt wood should be spread over the field for manurial purposes. 

 All methods of slashing or cutting across, whether done to prolong 

 the Hushing of a field or to bring young trees into bearing, should be 

 strictly avoided, as tea thus treated has frequently been found liable 

 to the heaviest attack. Liberal application of manure is recommended ; 

 green manure plants should be kept as low as possible and they should 

 be lopped at the same time as the cutting off of the diebacks. 



Brand (E.). Coconut Red Weevil. Some Facts and Fallacies. — Trop. 

 Agric, Peradeniya, xlix, no. 1, July 1917, pp. 22-24,3 plates. 



The author offers several observations on RhyncJiophorusferrugineus 

 (coconut red weevil) in connection with a previous paper on this 

 insect [see this Review, Ser. A, v, p. 32G]. This weevil is a much more 

 serious pest of coconuts than Oryctes rhinoceros or 0. monoceros 

 (rhinoceros beetles), to which far more attention has been paid, while 

 some of the descriptions of its habits are inaccurate. Although 

 it has been described as nocturnal in habit, the author has 

 observed the mature insects flpng round coconut palms after smiset 

 and in cloudy, w^arm w^eather at any time of day. He records having 

 been obliged to cut down infested trees in full bearing and laden with 

 fruit, although it has been said that the weevil does not attack sound 

 trees. He also states that the insect attacks the base of a tree and 

 works upwards, which is contrary to previous assertions. The essential 

 differences in the habits of R. ferrugineus and of 0. rhinoceros are 

 stated. Adult rhinoceros beetles feed on the succulent portions of the 

 coconut stem head, called the cabbage of the palm, while the adult 

 red weevil is not known to feed at all. The larvae of the rhinoceros 

 beetle feed on dead or decaying vegetable matter, but the larvae of 

 the palm weevil must have living, fresh tissue, preferably the interior 

 of coconut stems or the whitish base of the leaf-stalk. The rhinoceros 

 beetles rarely kill the palms, the chief damage they do lying in the 

 fact that they afford a means of ingress to R. ferrugineus, which 

 frequently completes the destruction of a tree within the course of a 

 few weeks. These weevils attack the top, bottom or middle of the 

 tree in any stage of gro^^i;h. The practice of removing the leaf-stalks 

 before they are ripe, for the purpose of clearing the field, is deprecated, 

 as the part of the trunk underlying a leaf-stalk is a favourite spot for 

 attack. The author has no faith in the use of carbon bisulphide, with 

 which he has experimented extensively, as a means of destroying the 



(C41G) b2 



