MONTHLY NOTES ON GRUBS AND OTHER CANE PESTS. 9 
We need further observations on the bandicoot, which is undoubtedly 
a great destroyer of insect pests. We have, in former reports, called 
attention to the useful habits of this animal, but it will be interesting 
to record a specimen recently dissected by Mr. Girault. Though the 
animal, which was fully grown, had been killed some time before by 
dogs, it was possible to remove the alimentary canal almost intact. Mr. 
Girault’s notes state that the following remarkable contents of the 
stomach were easily identified :—1 unknown Scarabeid grub; 30 slender, 
pale caterpillars, of the same species, and about 14 inch long; frag- 
ments of 2 moderate-sized beetles; 1 oat-like seed; 2 large Chrysomelid 
beetles; 2 large ants; 1 large unknown beetle; fragments of a longicorn 
beetle ; cane leaf, pith, and about 3 ec. of dark-green matter, composed of 
mixed insect and vegetable remains, these latter accounted for by the 
eaterpillars, perhaps. 
CANE GRUB INVESTIGATION, AUGUST, 1918. 
During the month I made a second trip to the Mossman district, 
this time to obtain a supply of the tachinid parasite of the borer weevil. 
Though my stay was very brief, I was able to make the most of it, as I 
was afforded every facility by the mill officials. 
I was fortunate in locating an abundant supply of the parasites 
during my previous visit, for Mr. Crees, the manager, informed me that 
the borer is not very prevalent in the district. My search through 
hundreds of truck-loads of cane in the mill yard failed to reveal a trace 
ot these insects. The particular field wherein the flies were found was an 
old nursery of seedling canes which has had no trash burned, and conse- 
quently afforded ideal conditions for the propagation of the borer. Then, 
too, in 1910, the breeding-cages from which the tachinid {parasites 
escaped were located alongside this field, and the flies have had a good 
opportunity to become established. 
I was surprised to learn that all of the cane of the district is burned 
before cutting. This may account somewhat for the scarcity of the 
borers, for the fires destroy a large percentage of those that are left in 
the discarded canes; or the grubs succumb later to the action of the sun 
upon the exposed stalks. Furthermore, fully 50 per cent. of the cane 
grown is D1135, a variety so hard that the borers are not attracted to 
it. It was instructive to note how the borers selected the softer cane 
varieties in the nursery, where they had a choice. 
The mill, however, now pays on individual analysis, and this is 
tending to increase the growing of Clark’s Seedling and other canes of 
higher density. 
Rats are by far the worst pest at Mossman. Soluble strychnine 
proved a failure, for the rats would not eat the bait. White arsenic has 
been used there with suecess; and ‘‘Rat-nip,’’ a trade preparation 
containing phosphorus, also gave good results. These poisons were 
applied to pieces of bread and other kinds of food. 
