295 



Jarvis (E.). Notes on the Habits and Metamorphosis of Lepidiola 

 frenchi, Black. — Queensland Bur. Sugar Expt. Sta., Brisbane, Div. 

 Entom. Bull. no. 5, 28th September 1917, 14 pp., 1 plate. 

 [Received 27th May 1918.] 



Most of the information contained in this bulletin has been published 

 in a previous paper [see this Review, Ser. A, v, p. 496]. The various 

 stages of the beetle are described. Adults begin to appear in December 

 and oviposit from 3 to 5 inches below the ground level. The larvae 

 emerge in about a fortnight, and the larval stage occupies in all 

 probability a year and a half, the whole life-cycle occupying two 

 years. In the laboratory the second stage larvae were observed 

 to consume entirely the roots of sugar-cane plants growing in the 

 breeding cages, and in many cases gnawed holes in the sets. 



Insects attacking Paddy in the Galle District.— Trojo. Agriculturist, 

 Peradeniya, Ceylon, 1, no. 3, March 1918, pp. 153-158. 



Rice-fields having been reported to be considerably damaged and 

 in some cases totally destroyed by insect infestation, investigation 

 showed that the small Jassid, Nepliotettix bipmictatus , was probably 

 the pest concerned. The plants attacked turned brown and no 

 grain ripened in them. Heavy rains were said to have terminated 

 the infestation. In 1912 a similar outbreak occurred in another 

 district, the damage on that occasion being attributed mainly to 

 another small Jassid, Nilaparvata greeni, although Nephotettix bipuhc- 

 tatus was also present in considerable numbers. Many Coccinellid 

 beetles were observed in infested areas, and these, when brought 

 to Peradeniya, were found to be predaceous on N. hipundatus and 

 probably assisted in reducing the outbreak. As this insect flies readily 

 on dark nights, experiments are to be undertaken with a view to the 

 systematic use of light-traps. 



Damage by this insect differs from that by Leptocorisa varicornis 

 (rice bug), the plants being injured as a whole, whereas the latter 

 injures only the ripening ears. 



DE Stefam (T.). Rhynchites bacchus, a Coleopteron injurious to Apples, 

 Apricots and Plums, in Sicily. — Mlhly. Bulh -Agric. InteU. <& PI. 

 Dis., Rome, ix, no. 3, March 1918, p. 402. (Abstract from Nuovi 

 Annali AgricoUura Siciliana. Palermo, vi, Ser. 6, Part 4, 1917, 

 pp. 178-191.) [Received 10th May 1918.] 



Orchards in the province of Palermo are seriously damaged by the 

 Curculionid, Rhynchites bacchus, and in a much less degree by other 

 weevils of the same genus, such as R. giganteus, R. auratus and R. ruber. 

 R. bacchus attacks apricots and plums, in some cases destroying the 

 whole crop of these fruits in about a week. On apples and apricots 

 the insect lays many eggs, but only one on plums. Having deposited 

 an egg in the plum, it cuts through the peduncle about the middle, 

 causing the fruit that is to feed the larva to fall to the ground. In 

 apples and apricots the peduncle is only partly cut, so that the fruit 

 dries up on the tree, dropping during wind or autumn rain. Damp 

 causes the fruit to soften and decompose, enabling the larvae within 



