FIELD OBSERVATIONS ON SUGAR-CANE INSECTS, 7 



transfer their attention to sugar cane. For this reason the fields should 

 be kept free of weeds and tall grass, especially in moist situations, as a 

 humid climate is favorable to the development of these insects. 



TERMITES. 



The writer found termites or "white ants" in sugar cane which 

 had been cut mto pieces of three joints each and planted. On 

 June 12, 1912, when some of the cane was dug up and examined, the 

 shoots from it were apparently weak and some of the eyes had not 

 germinated. The cane was planted near Brownsville, Tex., and had 

 been imported from Porto Rico, but the writer believes that the 

 termites were probably native to this country and that they attacked 

 the cane readily, being attracted by the many cuts. It seems inad- 

 visable from the entomological standpoint to cut cane in small pieces 

 before planting, as many insects may easily gnaw into the stalks 

 through the unprotected ends. 



GRASSHOPPERS. 



On August 9, 1912, Mr. E. R. Barber found grasshoppers very 

 abundant in the cane fields near Sugar Land, Tex. Many stripped 

 leaves, due to their work, were seen. The writer visited Sugar Land 

 on October 12, but found no grasshoppers at that time. The cane 

 seemed to have recovered from the injury it had suffered earlier in 

 the season from these insects. A grasshopper in the act of gnawing 

 a cane leaf was observed near Baton Rouge, La. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The peculiar weather during the season of 1912 probably accounts 

 in part at least for certain unexpected developments in insect life 

 during the year. A long and cold winter was followed in Louisiana 

 by a wet spring. Breaks in the levee of the Mississippi River caused 

 vast areas of land to be flooded, and the excess of water comphcated 

 matters further. We find a slow development of the moth borer 

 and the mealybug, which are tropical species and evidently require 

 a greater amount of warm weather tlian our native insects. As to 

 the sugar-cane beetle, the statement has been made by some planters 

 that this insect does most damage in dry seasons and on high, sandy 

 soils, so that we may believe that the wet weather retarded its 

 development. The fall army worm, or southern grass worm, on the 

 contrary, is more injurious during wet weather, wliich wUl account 

 for its extraordinary abundance during the summer of 1912. 



Practically no moth borers or mealybugs were found in the dis- 

 trict near IMorgan City, La., which had been overflowed some months 



[Oir. 171] 



