258 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS 



lated oruava fly is fairly abundant in Cuba, but it is so 

 freely attacked by a red fungus (Asherso)iia^ and 

 other parasites that it is seldom injurious. 



In Cuba a grayish green beetle {Pachnceiis Utus^ 

 belonoinof to the curculios is yery abundant and does 

 considerable damacre by eatino- the youno' oran^re 

 foliage. This, hoAyeyer, is insigniticant compared 

 to the injury caused by the lary;e to the roots. 

 Ejvors are laid on the leayes. which soon liatch, when 

 the minute o-nil) falls to the o-round, whicli it at once 

 enters and bci^'ins fecdino- on the bark of the roots. 

 It deyelops into a white, footless grub about half an 

 inch lono-, which remains underoTound till the close 

 of the winter dry season, when it pupates, a fresh 

 crop of beetles emerging with the first spring rains. 

 They sometimes occur in enormous numbers, more 

 than a luindred hayincv been found on the roots of a 

 sino'le small tree, and it really constitutes one of the 

 most serious drawbacks to orange cultiyation in the 

 island. The presence of these grubs at the roots is 

 soon indicated by the arrested q-rowth and the yel- 

 lowino' of the foliaofe. ^lany trees haye been killed 

 outriirht, but as a ireneral rule tliey partially re- 

 coyer durino- the rainy season. Continued attacks, 

 howeyer, o-reatly retard orrowth and preyent fruit- 



O * d' X 



fulness. Owino- to its underirround feedinq; habit, it 



c_> o c? 



is yery ditlicult to combat this insect in the laryal 

 stacre. Before the studies made by the Cuban Ex- 

 periment Station the connection between the root 

 grub and the green beetle was not suspected. Now 

 that its life history is known it is comparatiyelyeasy to 

 control it by destroyinq^ the beetles. On small trees 



