390 



two methods is probably about the same, the use of a catching machine 

 results in the acquisition of a poultry food, the value of which more 

 than covers the cost and operations of the machine. 



Feench Junr. (C). Furniture and Timber Boring Insects.— J?. Dejpt. 

 Agric. Victoria, Melbourne, xvi, no. 4, April 1918, pp. 214-221, 

 6 figs. [Received 15th July 1918.] 



The chief timber-boring insect of Victoria is Lyctus brunneus (furni- 

 ture and powder-post beetle), which oviposits on timber. The eggs 

 hatch rapidly and the larvae at once bore into the. wood, especially 

 attacking the sap-wood. 



Originally introduced into Australia in infected timber, tool- 

 handles and wicker-work, it has made great headway during recent 

 years, attacking furniture, especially the backs of book-cases, cup- 

 boards, the inside woodwork of pianos, table-legs and wicker-work. 

 From this source it rapidly spreads to the roof and floor-timbers 

 of houses, reducing them to sawdust and necessitating their renewal. 

 Recent infestations in houses can be successfully dealt with by 

 fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas or carbon bisuljDhide. 



All timber should be dried as soon as possible and should not 

 remain closely packed in timber yards for any length of time ; keeping 

 it in the open air for about 18 months allows it to become thoroughly 

 dried. 



The House process of artificially seasoning timber by means of 

 moist and dry heat, which occuj)ies about a fortnight, does not 

 damage it in any way, the colour being good and the fibres normal. 

 Some timber merchants remove all the sajJ-wood ; while timber 

 intended for telegraph poles, flooring boards, mine props, etc., should 

 be treated with one of the following : — corrosive sublimate, linseed or 

 other preservative oils, kerosene, benzine, creosote, carbolic acid, 

 benzine mixed with carbolic acid, carbolineum, white ant preservative 

 or white ant exterminator. Floor joists, after they are laid, should be 

 thoroughly dressed with oil to which has been added arsenic at the 

 rate of 1 lb. to 1 gal. ; this method has been used for years without 

 harmful effects. The bark should be removed from trees as soon as 

 they are felled and only the heart- wood should be utilised for timbering 

 the concealed parts of buildings. 



The pin-hole borer [Anobium sp.) oviposits on the wood into which 

 the larvae bore ; they do not remain in the sapwood as L. bncmieus 

 does, but j)enetrate into the very heart of the tree, the burrows often 

 being several feet in length. This species has been found to attack 

 red gum, mahogany, beech, oak, deal and red pine, the preventive 

 and remedial measures recommended for the furniture borer being 

 also applicable to it. 



Van Zwaluwenbueg (R. H.). Report of the Entomologist. — Rept. 

 Porto Rico Agric. Expt. Sta. for 1916, Mayaguez, 5th February 

 1918, pp. 25-28. [Received 15th July 1918.] 



Scapteriscus vicinus (Changa or mole-cricket) requires a year for 

 the complete development of a generation, of which three weeks are 

 passed in the egg-stage, nine months from hatching to the final moult, 

 and two or three months in the stage preceding oviposition, which 



