119 



manure or leaf-mould ; B. hortulanus damaging sugar-beet, spring 

 barley and wheat, the latter very severely ; B. abbreviatus damaging 

 celery plants by burrowing into the stalks, having probably been 

 brought to them in manure ; while B. albipennis which is very common 

 in the United States is considered to be harmless. 



The larv^ae may be destroyed by vaporite and injections of carbon 

 bisulphide into the soil, by soil-dressings of soot and lime, or by means 

 of traps consisting of old roots buried in the soil and dug up early in 

 March when the larvae are found feeding on them. Various birds, 

 such as rooks, starlings and chaffinches, as well as domestic poultry, 

 devour the larvae readily. Spra^nng infested land with a solution of 

 Chile saltpetre in early spring, and harrowing in autumn or early spring 

 after spreading quickhme on the field are recommended, while deep 

 j)loughing and rolHng at the time of pupation have been found 

 satisfactory, contact poisons being said to have little effect. 



A bibliography of 31 works is appended. 



Stebbing (W. p. D.). The Locust in Cyprus. — Ann. App. Biol., 

 London, iv, no. 3, December 1917, pp. 119-122. 



The smaU locust, Dociostaurus maroccanus {Stauronotus cruciatus), 

 is indigenous to C^-prus, where it lives on rocky and poor land, being 

 incapable of long flights. During its larval and hopper stage, it 

 invades cultivated areas and until recently has been an annual plague. 

 The means by which it has been checked are :^Egg collection, 

 which is easily carried out as the egg-masses are always laid in light 

 soil bordering the fields ; trapping the crawling larvae by trenches on 

 the further side of which are screens topped with a strip of American 

 cloth ; sprinkling the feeding areas with bacteria, causing an epidemic 

 disease, a large supply of this culture being prepared in the Government 

 laboratories. Approaching swarms of locusts may be prevented from 

 settling in ^^neyards and olive plantations by the beating of tins and 

 the lighting of brushwood fires on the hill tops, while natural enemies 

 such as birds and the Hzard, Agama stellis, prey upon the adults. 



Arrow (G-. J.). The Life-History of Scymnus capitatus, F. — Entomo- 

 logists' Mthly. Mag., London, liv, no. 644, January 1918, pp. 8-9. 



The widely distributed genus Scymnus is represented in England 

 by fourteen species, of which one, S. capitatus, has recently been found 

 at Tooting in the larval stage, preying upon Phylloxera on infested oaks, 

 in company with the predaceous Xeuropteron, Comventziu psociformis. 

 The larval and pupal stages of S. capitatus are here described in detail. 



Butler (E. A.). Note on Coranus subapfenis, De G. — Entomologists' 

 Mthly. Mag., London, liv, no. 644, January 1918, pp. 16-17. 



A female of the Redu\4id bug, Coranus subapterus, fed in captivity 

 upon Aphids and Lepidopterous larvae, was found to be capable of 

 killing a young caterpillar of Diacrisia- {Spilosoma) lubricipeda, quite 

 as large as itself. 



