40 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



The main objects of these measures are to remove and kill the 

 beetles and to prevent the wounds from decaying or from being 

 attractive to the Red Weevil. 



Measures against the Grubs. 



On Estates. — Keep all coconut estates and gardens as clean as 

 possible. 



Split up and burn all decaying palm logs and stumps and kill the 

 grubs and other stages of the Black Beetle found therein. 



Clean out the holes beneath old decayed palm stumps and fill 

 these in with earth or sand to prevent further breeding of grubs. 



Cut down all old standing dead and dying palms to ground level, 

 split up and burn the stems, and dig up the stumps or cover them 

 over with earth or sand to a depth of at least 6 inches. 



Remove and burn all young palms killed by the Red Weevil or 

 by disease, as these will soon breed the Black Beetle grubs. 



Clean up every three months all manure and coconut refuse lying 

 in heaps, in pits, or in trenches and kill all the grubs found therein. 



In Towns and Villages. — Clean up all manure and refuse heaps 

 and pits every three months. Use the manure on the land and burn 

 the refuse at frequent intervals. 



Split up and burn all old palm stumps ami logs in private com- 

 pounds and kill the grubs and other stages. 



General Measures. 



All palm stems which are to be used for building purposes, fence 

 posts, temporary bridges, &c, must be split up within three months 

 after cutting. Whole logs can only be used for posts, &c, if the ends 

 are tarred thoroughly or protected from rotting. 



It is important that all measures of control against Black Beetle 

 should be carried out by all coconut estates and gardens, and by all 

 towns and villages in the coconut areas. 



Natural Enemies. 



The grubs, pupae, and beetles are occasionally found to be killed 



by a green parasitic fungus ( Metarrhizuuti anisopl'ke), and the grabs 



and pupa' are sometimes devoured by the predaceous grubs of another 



beetle. 



J. C. HUTSON, 



Peradeniya, July 1, 1922, Government Entomologist, 



