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healthy coconuts, usually those about to come into bearing ; two 

 other weevils, the shot-hole weevil and the four-spotted weevil 

 [Diocalandm frumenti, F.], though attacking the trees, are said to be 

 rarely the cause of direct injury. Rhabdocnemis (Sphenophorus) 

 ohscurus, Boisd., which is specially a pest of sugar-cane, damages 

 coconuts by burro v/ing into the leaves. Metanmsius hemipterus, L., 

 M. cinnamominus and a species of Rhabdobaenus may be dealt with in the 

 same way as R. palmarum. The bearded weevil, Rhina barbirostris, F., 

 attacks mature trees but not the younger ones, the larvae boring into 

 the hardest part of the stems. Diocalandra fncmenti, F. {Calandra 

 iaitensis, Guer.) is a serious pest in the Society Islands, boring 

 in the edge of the base of the leaf stem, and often at the base of the 

 leaflets, many of which are thus destroyed. Anions: Lamellicorn 

 beetles, Stmtegus titcmus, F., is found in the inflorescence of 

 coconuts in Cuba, and though locally regarded as a pest, is 

 believed by Busck to be harmless. S. anachoreta bores a hole 

 in the ground near the stem of a young tree, generally one 

 about two years old, and if not removed in time, one beetle is 

 sufficient to destroy a tree ; the larvae live in rotten wood, this stage 

 lasting three or four years. Xylotrupes gideon, L., X. ninirod, Voet, 

 and X. lorquini, Deyr., behave in much the same manner as 0. rhino- 

 ceros and may be controlled in the same way. The larvae of Chalcosoma 

 atlas, L., have been stated to attack the trunk. Scapanes australis, 

 Boisd., and S. grossepunctatus, Sternb., destroy two to three-year-old 

 trees in New Guinea ; four species of Pimelopus, Camelonotus nasutus. 

 Bates {qimdriiuber, Fairm.), and Oryctoderus latitarsis, Boisd., also 

 damage coconuts in New Guinea. The adidts of Eurytrachelus pilosipes, 

 Waterh., bore into the stem under the shelter of the base of the leaf 

 stalk and E. intennedius, Gestr., is also recorded as a pest. Passalus 

 tridens, Wied.,* is reported as having done much damage in Demerara. 

 In the Seychelles and Madagascar, Melitomma insula.re, Fairm., is, 

 according to Barnett, a most important pest, attacking the trunk. 

 Scolytid beetles are common in Cuba and are suspected of causing 

 both direct and indirect damage, chiefly by providing places for 

 infection by fungi or oviposition by the palm weevil. Leaf-eating 

 beetles of the family Hispidae are serious local pests and Brontispa 

 froggatti, Sharp, is possibly the worst pest that the planters of the 

 Solomon Islands have to contend with ; both adult and larva feed 

 on the leaves [see this Review, Ser. A, iii, p. 27] ; the same or a closely 

 related insect is a serious pest in Eastern Java. Three species of 

 Promecotheca, P. cumiiigii, Baly, in the Philippines, P. antiqua, 

 Weise, in New Guinea, and P. opacicollis, Gestr., in the New Hebrides, 

 are known as pests of the coconut. In New Guinea, palms standing 

 among alang-alang grass {Imperata cylindrica) are specially liable to 

 attack, and the beetles seem to disappear when the grass is eradicated. 

 Lepidopterous pests are only local ; they include : — the Zygaenid, 

 Brachartona catoxantha, Hmp., in the Dutch East Indies and the 

 Federated Malay States ; the Hesperid, Hidari irava, on the west 

 coast of Sumatra ; the Hesperid, Padraona chrysozona, Plotz, and 

 the Limacodid, Thosea cinereomarginata, in the Philippines and 

 Federated Malay States, and the butterfly, Amathusia phidippus, L., 



[* It is probable that P. interruptus, L., is the beetle concerned, tridens 

 being a Javanese species. — Ed.] 



