538 



abundant throughout the year, owing to the attractive nature of the 

 plants that are cultivated in such situations. 



The second part of th^s paper discusses preventive measures and 

 remedies for cutworms. Attacks on irrigated crops, such as potatoes, 

 during the dry season, cannot well be guarded against, as eggs are 

 laid on the crop itself ; but clean cultivation and the keeping down of 

 weeds are obviously helpful in checking the numbers of the pest ; 

 heavy loss is especially likely to be experienced if w^eeds are allowed 

 to grow for a time and are then destroyed by cultivation, leaving 

 only the cultivated crops for the cutworms to feed upon. Tobacco 

 seedlings should be carefully protected by covers, leaving no aperture 

 through which a moth could enter. A fairly wide space of bare ground 

 around the seed beds would help to check invasion. Preventive 

 measures in regard to wet season crops consist mainly of keeping 

 the land as free from weeds as possible before the crop is planted. 

 This will prevent oviposition. Planting with the first rains tends to 

 avoid serious loss from cutworms, but is not recommended for maize, 

 which when planted early is Hkely to suffer from borers. 



Remedies for cutworms are numerous, the one almost universally 

 recommended being poisoned bait. Many experiments to determine 

 the efficacy of various baits have been carried out, E. segetum 

 being the species mainly tested. The results were somewhat 

 contradictory, but certain conclusions were arrived at. Sodium 

 arsenite is not a suitable poison for larvae of E. fiegstmn, as owing 

 to its distastefulness, sufficient to cause death is seldom eaten. The 

 larvae are not sufficiently attracted by baits made with bran or maize 

 meal. A. ypsHon and E. long identif era are more readily poisoned 

 by standard baits than E. segetum. All species are readily poisoned 

 by succulent green stuff dipped in Paris green and water (1 lb. to 

 10 gals.) with or without sugar. Small individuals of all species are 

 more easily poisoned than larger ones, but no bait is known that 

 will attract cutworms away from favourite food-plants. To obtain 

 the maximum effect, the ground should be free from growing plants 

 when the bait is used. Land planted with maize should be baited 

 twice, just before the crop is due to appear above ground. When 

 tobacco plants are attacked in the seedling-leaf stage by very small 

 cutworms, the whole might be sprayed with 1 lb. lead arsenate in 16 

 gals, water, adding 1 lb. sugar or 1 pint molasses to each gallon of the 

 liquid. Paris green may be used in the same way, 1 lb. to 160 gals, 

 water with the addition of 1 lb. lime. When the young plants have 

 begun to grow freely, this method is useless, as they are usually cut 

 through at the ground level while the poison remains on the leaves. 

 Under these conditions hand-picking is the only remedy. 



A table records the results of many experiments with various 

 poisoned baits and the conclusions are discussed in an appendix. 



Speyer (E. E,.). Report on the Work of the Entomological Division, 

 including Special Investigations into Shot-hole Borer of Tea. — 



Ceylon Administration Reports for 1917, Dept. Agric, 11th 

 February 1918, pp. C 10-13. [Received 17th October 1918.] 



Icerya purchasi (fluted scale) was found to be increasing upon 

 Acacia decurrens and other hosts and necessitated some attention, 



