neic Species of Melolonthid Beetle. 457 



a liif^lily important crop in the island. The beetle is little 

 known therpj and its depredations have attracted no notice. 

 On the other hand, its enormous multiplication in Mauritius 

 is explained hy its having gained an entrance to an island 

 where its natural enemy is absent. An allied species of 

 Scoli'a (S. (iJitUs) riifa, Lep ) is known to exist in Mauritius, 

 but has evidently not attacked the invader. 



Another useful agent in reducing the beetles in Barbados 

 is the so-called blackbird {Quiscahis), which rapidly clears the 

 cane-stumps of the larvae wlien uprooted. The birds eagerly 

 follow the men so engaged, but are not able to reach the 

 insects beneath the ground. 



Mr. Marshall failed to find any specimen of the Phytalus 

 in the collections made in Trinidad by Messrs. Urich and 

 Guppy, nor did he see it in any island which he visited 

 excej)t Barbados ; but it may yet be found to inhabit other 

 islands or the mainland of America. 



Previous to finding the specimens labelled " Trinidad," I 

 had ascertained that cane-cuttings were imported into 

 Mauritius from Demerara and the West Indies; but my 

 opinion that the insect had been imported from that region 

 was not at first accepted by M. de Charmoy, who considered 

 it improbable, since the imported cuttings are packed in 

 charcoal. It can hardly be doubted, however, that my 

 explanation was the true one, and that a few specimens 

 accidentally imported, probably several years ago, and multi- 

 plying unchecked, were the progenitors of the millions now 

 ravaging the crop. 



The outbreak was first noticed in the vicinity of the Royal 

 Botanical Gardens at Pamplemousses, and was reported to 

 aflPect 30 acres of plantations ; but at the date of the 

 Report of the Director of Forests and Gardens in August 

 last it was found that 300 acres had been affected and, in a 

 letter to me in the following October, M. d'Emmeiez de 

 Charmoy records that 2,000,000 larvse had been collected 

 and as many as 80,000 adult beetles were destroyed in a 

 single night. Between August and January it was calculated 

 that over 27,000,000 had been destroyed. 



The eggs are laid in the soil during three months of the 

 year, the female laying from one to ten every two or three 

 nights until from forty to sixty in all have been deposited. 

 They hatch in a period of from nine to twenty-two days, 

 according to temperature, and the young larvae are reported 

 by M. de Charmoy to feed at first upon the organic matter in 

 the soil itself and later upon the roots of the cane. As many 

 as 50 or 60 grubs have been found in a single stump, the 



Ann. (& Mag. N. Hist. !Ser. 8. Vol. ix. 31 



