144 CHAPTER IX 



can brace against ; with the saw-hke movable teeth laterally she first begins to 

 eat out the hole until softer ground is struck, so to speak, when she will force the 

 work, moving the head up and down as well as sideways, until the whole length 

 of the beak is buried. 



" Upon soft parts of split cane this operation takes from ij to 2 minutes ; 

 no doubt much longer in boring through the hard epidermis, probably hours. 

 After the hole is completed, the beetle walks up and inserts the ovipositor, remain- 

 ing in this position from 4 to 6 minutes. The bone-coloured egg is found embedded 

 parallel to the fibres. It is about 2 mm. long by i mm. in thickness, and slightly 

 bent. The hole close to this is filled in with mucous matter intermixed with par- 

 ticles of fibre. Repeated observations show that these eggs hatch in six days. The 

 newly hatched larva is at first transparent as the eggs of the latter production, 

 the first being of a more opaque colour as also the young larvae, with the head of 

 a dark yellow colour. We found that the young larvae went out in the same 

 direction as fibres about one-eighth of an inch deeper, having made a hole one 

 inch long in from four to five hours. As the larva increases in size, its power of 

 boring becomes more rapid. A half-grown specimen traversed a piece of cane 

 six inches in length, from end to end in three days." 



A closely allied species, Matamarsius hemipterus* is also known as a 

 minor pest of similar habits in the West Indies.^^ 



Of minor coleopterous pests there may be recorded the " bibit keever," 

 or cane-top beetle, Holonaria pisescens,^^ the perfect insect attacking the 

 eyes of the cane ; and several " leaf miners," such as Aphanisticus krugeri 

 and Hispella sacchari,^"^ which feed on the leaves. The two last-mentioned 

 insects are only reported from Java. 



Hemipterous or Rhyncotous Pests. — The Hemiptera are a great order of 

 insects, characterized by the development of the mouth parts into an organ 

 known as the beak or rostrum and adapted to the purpose of sucking animal 

 or vegetable juices. The phases of insect life known as lice, blights, blast, 

 scale, bugs (in its technical sense), are included in this order. The damage done 

 is material through the destruction of tissue in stem and leaf, and this is 

 then followed by fungi that gain entrance through the wounds thus made. 

 Although these insects are very small, and though the actual damage done 

 by each individual is almost inappreciable, yet the enormous numbers in 

 which they occur, due to their great prolificness, make them one of the major 

 dangers to agriculture. Of those that have become the most notorious may 

 be cited the asciracids, Delphax saccharivora^^ (the " cane fly " or " spittle 

 fly" of the West Indies), Perkinsiellia saccharicida^^ {a.n Australian species) , 

 the " leaf hopper " of Hawaii, and Dicranotropi^ vastatrix^^ of Java ; the 

 coccid, I eery a seychellarum, (pou a poche blanche of Mauritius), ^^ and the 

 cercopid, Tomaspis posticata, the frog hopper of Central America and 

 Trinidad.22 



Of minor pests that have been recorded may be mentioned various 

 coccids, such as Trcchocorys {dactylopius) calceolaricp ,^^ the " mealy bug," 

 of very wide distribution; certain aphids, such as the black and yellow 

 " blast " in the West Indies, Aphis setarice and Sipha flava ;^^ the white and 

 the green louse of Java, Oregma {Ceratovacuna) lanigera, a.nd A phis sacchari.^^ 

 This last species is illustrated in Plate XVI, No. 10, and shows the enormous 

 number of these insects that may occur in a limited area. 



Orthopterous Pests. — The orthoptera do not include any major pests of 

 the cane. The one of most interest is the " mole cricket," Scapteriscus 

 didactylus, of the West Indies.^^ While a general feeder, this insect only 

 attacks the cane incidentally. During the day it feeds on roots underground 



♦The two insects discussed above were formerly known as Sphenophorus obscurus and S. sericeus, and it is 

 under these names that they are described in ail but the more recent literature. 



