560 



tlirougliout Porto Rico, subsisting during the intervals between crops 

 on the wild egg-plant, S. tonmm. Both nymphs and adults congregate 

 on the under-sides of the leaves and suck the plant juices, eventually 

 causing the leaf to dry and fall. 



The insect has a very short life-cycle and multiplies very rapidly, 

 breeding continuously throughout the year. Eggs are laid on the 

 under-sides of the leaves and hatch in about six days ; the nyinphs 

 develop rapidly, moulting five times before they become adult. Tables 

 showing the length of the various stages are given. The period from 

 the hatching of the egg to the appearance of the adult occupies only 

 ten days. Predaceous insects that feed on the soft-bodied nymphs of 

 the lace-bug include the Cocci nellids, Megilla innofaki, Muls., and 

 Cydoneda sanguinea, L., and the Reduviids, Zclus rnbidvs, Lap. & 

 Serv., and ZAongi^^ L. A spray consisting of 8 lb. soap to 50 U.S.gals. 

 water shoiild be used as soon as possible after the appearance of 

 this pest. 



Cotton (R. T.). Life-History of Haltica jamaicensis, Fabr. — Jl. Dept. 

 Agric, Porto Rico, \, no. 3, Julv 1917, pp. 173-175. [Received 

 18th October 1917.] 



Haltica jamaicensis is the largest of the flea-beetles found in Porto 

 Rico and is at times extremely abundant. It occurs also in Jamaica, 

 Santo Domingo, Haiti, Costa Rica, and Cuba. While the favourite 

 food-plants are the common weeds, Jussiaea leptocarpa, J. suffmficosa 

 and J. erecta, it occasionally feeds on garden beans and might become 

 a serious pest if its usual food- supply should fail. The eggs, which are 

 laid on the leaves and stems of the plant, number about 520 for each 

 female ; they hatch in four to six days and the young larvae feed on 

 the foliage, descending to the soil to pupate after the second moult. 

 The prepupal and pupal stages together occupy 11 days, the whole 

 life- cycle requiring 39 days. 



Cotton (R. T.). Scale-feeding Habits of a Porto Rican Millipede : 



RhinocricAis arboreus, Saussure. — Jl. Dept. Agric, Porto Rico, i, 

 no. 3, July 1917, pp. 175-176. [Received 18th October 1917.] 



The author records having observed the millipede, RhiTwcricvs 

 (irhoreiis, feeding upon the purple citrus scale, Lepidosaphes becJcii, 

 which was heavily infesting a grape-fruit tree. Experiments in the 

 laboratory disclosed the fact that as many as 2,000 scales may be 

 devoured in three hours by one millipede, which, after a short rest, is 

 ready to continue feeding. About a dozen individuals were then 

 I^laced in each of several small grape-fruit trees that were badly infested 

 with purple scale. At the end of two weeks the trees were clear of the 

 scales, and although most of the millipedes left the trees in search of 

 more food, these were still free from scales four or five months later, 

 while similar trees sprayed with oil emulsion were badly re-infested. 

 Although the millipedes are not likely ever to be of any great import- 

 ance in controlling scale-insects in citrus plantations, it is evident that 

 they are not entirely vegetable-feeding Myriapods, as is generally 

 supposed. 



