426 FAMILY CURCULIONIDAE 



attacks of the weevil are so systematical!}' carried out that little or no 

 height-growth can be put on. In the dry weather, i.e. November to March, 

 the insect is scarce, and the majority of seedlings or saplings manage to put 

 on a good shoot." 



Mr. Osmaston wrote in 1905 : " Nothing is known of the life history of 

 this beetle or why it rings the small twigs, though it appears to suck the sap 

 from the points where the injury is inflicted. I have not observed any 

 indication of egg-laying in the shoots which are ringed." 



No further observations on the life history have yet been recorded. 



The weevil, so far as is known at present, infests young padauk plants 



only. The following notes upon its modus operandi are 



F r from Mr. Osmaston's reports. In October 1905 he 



wrote: "The nature of the damage consists in the 



ringing of all the young shoots, including the leader, at a stage when they 

 are only an inch or two long, and about one-twelfth to one-sixteenth of an 

 inch in diameter, but this ringing is so systematically carried out that the 

 whole growth of the young tree is checked thereby. The young shoots fall 

 off shortly after being ringed, and the sapling gradually assumes an 

 unhealthy, bushy appearance with no definite leader (cf. pi. xxxiii and 

 pi. xxxv). The seedlings are not much attacked until they reach a height 

 of about 18 in., and from this point until they attain a height of about 

 6 ft. they suffer very seriously. 



' It remains to be seen whether the plants will ultimately outgrow this 

 insect pest, which at present appears to threaten the very existence of the 

 plantations. 



"The damage has been noticed for the last three years while tounggya 

 plantations have been going on, but it is only lately that I succeeded in 

 securing the insect which is responsible for it." 



In August 1907 a further communication on the subject was received, 

 together with an excellent series of dried parts of attacked plants showing 

 the method of attack by the beetle. The photographs shown here were 

 taken from the valuable series of specimens prepared by Mr. B. B. Osmaston. 

 The following additional observations were recorded : " The tender shoot is 

 punctured within an inch or two of its apex, and the juice is sucked out as 

 it exudes." 



Marks of "unsuccessful ringing" are nearly always to be found 

 lower down on the shoot attacked (cf. pi. xxxi, xxxii, and xxxiv). The object 

 of this is not clear, unless it is done with a view to diminishing the flow of 

 sap at the apex. Nothing whatever is known of the life history of this 

 insect ; neither the larva nor the pupa has been discovered as yet. 



we have seen, Mr. Osmaston sa\ s that in the dry months from 

 November to March the greater number of the seedlings and saplings are 

 able to put on a good shoot. In some cases, however, he states, the 



