377 



to purchase blast torches, but coconut husks dipped in kerosene at 

 the end of long poles are used instead. 



Lantana {Lantana camara), a noxious weed which is spreading, 

 is fortunately destroyed by Pulvinaria antigoni and Aster olecanium 

 jpnstuluns. 



Mangos {Mangifera indica) are attacked by Vinsonia stdlifera, 

 Coccus {Lecanium) mangiferae and Icerya seychellarum. 



Sugar-cane {Saccharmn officinarum) is attacked by Trochorrhopalus 

 stranguhius. a weevil that bores into the underground portion of 

 the stem. The ravages of this insect are not considered important. 



Bananas {Miisa paradisiaca) are badly infested with Cosmopolites 

 sordidus, which bores into the bulbous extremity of the pseudo-stem. 

 Many species of plantain are immune. Stored maize is attacked by 

 Calandra oryzae, and owing to the ravages of this weevil there is no 

 grain left in the colony three months after the crop has been harvested. 



Reports on the Agricultural Department, Tortola, 1915-16, and 1916-17, 



Barbados, 1918, 33 pp. 



The yield of cotton was markedly diminished by the attacks of 

 caterpillars and by a flower-bud maggot, Contarinia gossypii, which 

 has not previously been recorded in the Virgin Islands. 



Diaprepes abbreviatus (root borer of sugar-cane) or a closely allied 

 species, caused considerable damage to the leaves of the bay tree, 

 Pimenta acris. D. abbreviatus doublieri attacked the young parts of 

 limes, bay, avocado pear and many ornamental plants. 



A Longicorn beetle, Batoccra r-ubus, has attacked papaws in Tortola. 

 After destroying all the trees at the Experiment Station, the pest 

 has spread considerably and is recorded from other localities throughout 

 the island. Other trees attacked are Ficiis sp., which is killed by it, 

 the adults feeding on the leaves and young growing parts and the larva 

 eating its way between the bark and wood. It is believed to spend 

 nearly a year in the larval stage. Spotidias liitea (hog plum) is also 

 attacked, and probably avocado pear. This pest should be watched 

 for in other islands, as its introduction would be serious in papaw- 

 growdng regions, and it would probably attack rubber-bearing trees, 

 having already attacked a specimen of Ficvs elastica growing in the 

 Experiment Station. Alabama argillacea (cotton worm) was not 

 plentiful, probably ownng to lack of its food-plant, and Dysdercus 

 andreae (cotton stainer) was less troublesome than in previous years. 



Cotton (R. T.). Experimental Work on the Control of the White 

 Grubs of Porto Rico. — Jl. Dept. Agric. Porto Rico, Rio Piedras, ii, 

 no. 1, January 1918, pp. 1-18. [Received 24th June 1918.] 



This paper is a brief report of the results of the vast amount of 

 experimental work conducted in Porto Rico since 1908 ■with a view 

 to discovering methods of controlling the white grubs [La chno sterna] 

 so destructive to sugar-cane in the island. 



The entirely negative results show that hand-collection of the 

 grubs and beetles is at present the only practical means of holding 

 them in check, and it is far from being entirely satisfactory. The 

 most promising method hes in the introduction of predaceous and 

 parasitic enemies [see this Revietv, Ser. A, v, p. 410, 559]. 



