336 



of the large islands at the mouth of the Orinoco, is said to have lasted 

 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Offshoots of the main swarm that settled fed 

 voraciously on maize and sweet cassava, which were in every instance 

 speedily singled out and defoliated ; feeding took place largely at 

 night. 



Oviposition began mthin a fortnight, the favourite locality being 

 the sites of former palms, which consisted of a network of decaying 

 roots mixed with soil, the eggs beginning to hatch from 3 to 4 weeks 

 later. 



The various measures locally adopted included : — Burning large 

 swarms after surrounding them with plenty of dry, quick-burning 

 bush, a method which gave good results against the younger stages ; 

 the use of traps composed of small canvas sheets or banana leaves 

 well smeared with tar, on to which the young hoppers were brushed, 

 this method proving highly efficacious ; driving the insects into 

 trenches in which the surface of the water, had previously been coated 

 with a film of kerosene ; driving large swarms that had been previously 

 located on to tarpauhns about 12 ft. square smeared with the thickest 

 molasses, a method apphcable only where the vegetation is sparse, 

 but which in such localities 3delded good results. 



The enforcement of the Insect Pests and Plant Diseases Ordinance 

 early in the campaign was attended with most beneficial results, 

 and the pests were exterminated, except in two districts where the 

 hoppers had attained maturity and consequently powers of flight. 



GuRNEY (W. B.). Insect Pests of Maize.— N.S.W. Dept. Agric, 

 Sydney, Farmers' Bull., no. 116, March 1918, pp. 37-42, 3 figs. 

 [Received 11th June 1918.] 



Among the chief insect pests of maize are the grubs of LamelHcorn 

 beetles that feed in the soil on grasses and crop roots for two years 

 or more, hibernating in the pupal state and emerging during the 

 following summer as adults that feed on foliage. Rotation of crops 

 and deep ploughing in autumn are recommended as the best means 

 of controlling them. 



Similar methods are recommended against wireworms (Elateridae). 

 Laboratory experiments have shown that wirev/orms may be destroyed 

 by feeding on bran poisoned with Paris green, and it is possible that 

 limited areas might be protected by ploughing in a sprinkhng of 

 poisoned bran at the time of sowing. 



Maize fields adjacent to cutworm-infested grass pastures may be 

 to a certain extent attacked by the larvae of Euxoa infusa (bugong 

 moth). Preventive measures against this Noctuid are of the utmost 

 importance, as it is difficult to control it when once established, though 

 large numbers may be destroyed by hghtly scattering poisoned bran 

 among the patches of seedhng maize. The poison should be made 

 of 1 oz. Paris green mixed dry with 16 oz. bran and made into a dry 

 crumbly mash with water to which has been added half a cupful of 

 salt to a bucket of water, or failing this, a httle treacle. Certain 

 cutworms sometimes appear in spring in vast numbers with astonishing 

 suddenness, due to the fact that they have hibernated as partly 

 grown larvae, the first warm days of spring causing their sudden, 

 appearance. 



