315 



Other important measures are proper drainage and judicious man- 

 uring, great harm having frequently resulted from a too prolonged 

 course of nitrogenous manures, or of those which render the soil 

 too acid. 



Careful pruning is of the utmost importance, especially as regards 

 the removal of prunings, for these, if allowed to remain in the bushes, 

 afford cover for pupating caterpillars and also collect moisture, 

 conducing to the gro^vth of mosses and lichens which encourage scale- 

 insects and mites. Dead twigs and branches should always be removed, 

 as they attract borers and termites. 



Insect Pests of Tea in Ceylon during 1916.— Q/^/y. Jl. Scient. Deft. hid. 

 Tea Assoc, Calcutta, 1917, part 4, 1918, pp. 137-139. [Received 

 24th May 1918.] 



During the year very severe outbreaks of Homona cqffearia (tea 

 tortrix) occurred in several provinces ; Orgi/ia jjostica (tussock moth) 

 was reported in the caterpillar stage in Januar}' and October from 

 two localities in the Central Provinces ; Zeuzera coffeae was present 

 throughout the year, the caterpillars in one district being heavily 

 parasitised by Braconids which emerged in November. Xyleborus 

 fornicatus (shot-hole borer) showed the usual tendency to increase 

 its distribution, but no new districts were invaded. Two other very 

 minute Scohi:ids were reported from tea, and another species, probably 

 X. coffeae, was collected in nurseries. 



Other insects were : — Psychidae (bagworms), Astycvs sp. (tea 

 weevil), Arhela quadrinofafa (barking-eating borer), the Fulgorid, 

 Ricanoptera opaca, a new pest of tea, Coccus {Lecanium) viridis and 

 Eriophyes (Phyfoptus) carinatus (purple mite). Psocidae were present 

 in packed tea, to which they probably gained access before packing 

 or through perforated tea lead, being originally present on the wood 

 of the tea chests. 



Massixi (P. C). Metodo biologico contra las Plagas aplicado al Oece- 

 ticus pilotensis, Bicho de Canasto. [The Biological Method against 

 Pests applied to Oeceticus platensis (Bagworm).] — Anales Soc. 

 Rural Argentina, Buenos Aires, li, no. 5, Julv 1917, pp. 373-378, 

 7 figs. [Received 24th May 1918.] 



The Argentine bagworm, Oeceticus platensis, occurs very abundantly 

 in the south of Cordoba and the province of Buenos Aires and in the 

 southern parts of Argentina generally, while in the northern provinces, 

 although it is present throughout, its numbers are so small that its 

 efiects are scarcely noticeable. While certain parasites, such as 

 Tetrastichus platensis, Brethes, do occur in the southern provinces 

 and have some influence in checking the numbers of this bagworm, 

 their effect is altogether inadequate, as may be seen by the number 

 of acacia and willow trees that are completely defoliated by it. 



The author therefore undertook experiments in the introduction 

 into the southern provinces of some of the parasites present in the 

 north. These had proved so efficacious where they occurred that the 

 bagworms had practically ceased to exist there and could not be 

 collected in any quantity. 



