357 



higher temperatures so as to secure quicker penetration of the food 

 material by the heat. Peanuts in loose piles can be successfully steri- 

 lised without injury if they are subjected to a temperature of 125° F. 

 for 6 hours. Small quantities of cereals and flour can be sterilised in an 

 oven, pro\4cled that the heat used is not sufficient to cause scorching. 

 If the dried foods imported into the Islands could be sterihsed in a 

 properly constructed plant before being distributed to the stores, 

 much of the present loss would undoubtedly be obviated. Occasion- 

 ally food can be sterihsed by spreading it out on a dark background 

 exposed to direct rays of the sun. This method has been used with, 

 some success in the case of weevil-infested beans. Moist heat is 

 seldom successful on account of its tendency to produce mould in 

 the food. 



An objection to fumigation is the uncertainty of its effects, and the 

 fact that it is not an advisable method where long continued storage 

 is required. Carbon bisulphide, in the proportion of 2 lb. per 1,000 

 cubic feet, kept in tight receptacles for not less than 48 hours, will 

 ordinarily sterihse bags of grain, destropng all insects. Hydrocyanic 

 acid gas fumigation, which is too dangerous to be recommended for 

 home use, has a high penetrating power and is a much more deadly 

 poison than carbon bisulphide. For fumigation in mills, the amount 

 of gas produced by 1 oz. potassium cyanide and 1 oz. sulphuric acid 

 in 3 oz. water for each 1,000 cubic feet, has given satisfactory results. 

 A sterilised food product will, however, become re-infested in Hawaii 

 within a few months, if not protected in some manner, unless sterilised 

 in hermetically-sealed tin containers. 



The author points out the necessity of the problems discussed in 

 this paper being studied by an entomologist who could devote his 

 entire time to the subject, our present knowledge being confined to 

 the incidental observations of those who are devoting the greater part 

 of their attention elsewhere. 



FuLLAWAY (D. T.). Division of Entomology. — Hawaiian Forester dk 

 Agriculturist Honolulu, xv, no. 3, March 1918, p. 64. [Received 

 18th June 1918.] 



During the month of February the insectary handled35, 300 pupae 

 of the melon fly [Dacus cucurbitae], from which were bred 1,214 

 individuals of Ojpius fletcheri. The parasites distributed included : 

 0. fletcheri, 1,032 ; Diachasma fullawayi, 280 ; D. tryoni, 330 ; Opius 

 himilis, 25 ; Paranagrus (corn leaf-hopper parasite), 17,350. 



LouNSBURY (C. P.). Division of Entomology. Annual Report, 1916t- 



1917. — Union S. Africa Dept. Agric. Rept., Cape Town, 1918, 

 pp. 93-105. [Received 17th June 1918.] 



Nursery inspection during the year resulted in quarantine being 

 applied to 15 nurseries in which red scale [Chrysoniphalus aurantii] 

 was the chief source of trouble, being the only cause of quarantine 

 in 9 cases, and partly the cause in 4 others, while pustular oak scale 

 [Asterolecanium variolosum] led to quarantine in one other case. 



Chrysoniphalus dictyospermi (Spanish red scale) has been found on 

 peach, mango, avocado pear, guava, rose and a number of other 



