332 FAMILY CERAMBYCIDAE 



flighting in May. This would seem to prove that the beetles will not lay 

 on the bark of trees two months or more old. Now, the great increase or 

 the presence of this insect in constant large numbers in areas where fellings 

 are taking place is not so much due to the insects arising from eggs laid in 

 the bark of the convertible bole, since the bole may have been barked and 

 cut up before the larvae have reached even half size, as to those bred in the 

 large crowns of the trees which are left in the forest unbarked and unused 

 owing to there being no demand for such wood. This is one of the 

 great sources of danger, since it is impossible at present to hope either to 

 make use of this material or to get rid of it in any cheap manner. This 

 source of danger can be minimized or entirely obviated by felling the trees, 

 provided such a practice is possible, at times when the beetles are not 

 present in the forest, and at least two months before they are likely to 

 appear. 



(2) Bark every tree within a week of felling, and when possible remove 

 the bark from the larger branches in the crown. 



(3) In the case of an insect of this kind there is but one way at present 

 of combating it successfully in India, and that is the drastic one of cutting 

 out seriously infested trees. These should be barked, and if it is seen that 

 they contain a large number of grubs the trees should be logged and burnt. 

 It will not be necessary to reduce the whole to ashes, if there is no demand 

 for charcoal in the locality. If the sapwood is properly burnt sufficient 

 heat and smoke will have penetrated into the interior of the heart-wood 

 down the larval tunnels to have killed off all pupating grubs, pupae, or 

 nearly mature beetles. This operation may be carried out at any time of 

 the year except when the beetles are issuing, i.e. between the beginning 

 of May and end of July. 



It must be remembered that infested trees in a block of forest mean 

 the spreading of the pest to neighbouring healthy ones, and that conse- 

 quently the sacrifice of the infested patch will save the rest of the block. 

 In carrying out the operation the greatest care should be exercised in seeing 

 that the logs are properly burnt and that any large branches showing signs 

 of the presence of the beetle are treated in the same way. 



Range Officers should be instructed to report the fact of there being 

 dying trees or dying patches of trees in their charge, and with the report 

 they should be able to state whether the damage is due to the presence of 

 this pest. If the trees are being killed it may, if the matter is taken in 

 hand sufficiently early, be possible to save a portion of the timber from 

 being ruined in the case of those not very seriously infested. 



(4) The numbers of the beetles present in a forest may be easily ascer- 

 tained by felling trap trees at the periods when the beetles are on the wing. 

 These trees should be visited every morning for at least a week after felling, 

 and all the beetles found on the bark and in the adjacent low jungle growth 



