COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 51 



wings are rounded at the tips, whereas the wings of the other moths 

 are usually pointed. 



Other Measures. — Bright fires are only useful if they are made of 

 the coconut leaves which have the caterpillar pest on them. It has 

 been found that the burning of small fires at night among the infested 

 palms does not attract very many moths, and very few moths are 

 killed, so that these fires are not recommended for general use at 

 nights, unless the infested leaves cut during the day are burnt. 



Smoky fires made by burning tar and sulphur are probably of no 

 real value in controlling the pest. It is more effective to cut and 

 burn the infested leaves than to try and kill the caterpillars by smoke. 



Spraying the affected palms with a poison cannot be recommended 

 for general use at present, until more extensive experiments have been 

 made : so far as they have gone, a spray made up of 1 oz. Paris Green 

 to 10 gallons water with 3 oz. lime added, gave positive results in 

 favour of the sprayed trees. 



General Remarks.— AW coconut growers should endeavour to keep 

 their palms in as healthy a condition as possible by cultivation and 

 manuring, and the coconut area should be kept clean so as to prevent 

 the coconut beetle from breeding and attacking the palms. Vigorous 

 palms are not so badly attacked by the caterpillar as weaker palms, 

 and they are able to recover more rapidly after a caterpillar attack. 

 All coconut growers should be on the lookout for the first signs of the 

 caterpillar pest, and should take measures to control it before it can 

 spread over a large area when it is very difficult to control. All 

 coconut growers in any district infested by the caterpillar should co- 

 operate to keep the pest in check by seeing that their own palms are 

 kept free from the caterpillar. 



J. C. HUTSON, 

 Peradeniya, June 4th, 1922. Kntomoloyist. 



Some Minor Insect Pests of Coconuts. 

 The Spotted Locust (Autarches miliaria) has several times during 

 the last two years been reported as partially defoliating young coconut 

 palms. This damage has usually occurred in fields which have been 

 allowed to become ovrrun with thick grass and weeds, or in gardens 

 where a variety of crops, including coconuts, is being grown on the 



