208 



BEETLE PESTP. 



stem and eating its way into the soft heart of the plant. In so doing 

 it injures the rolled up new leaves, which show signs of its work when 

 they open, and wounds the tree. In itself it does little harm and in 

 Ceylon is kept in check by extraction from the tree with a stiff wire. 

 Mr. P. B. Haig has reported that in Kanara this beetle kills the 

 cocoanut-trees occasionally and that an attacked tree yields no toddy. 



Its life history is known to the toddy-tappers, who find its grub in 

 dung heaps and in decaying vegetable matter. The grub is an immense 

 soft white larva, leg- 

 less and of a most 

 striking appearance ; 

 it is quite common 

 in dung heaps and 

 decomposing vegeta- 

 tion. The beetle 

 really does injury by 

 attracting the more 

 serious enemy to the 

 palm tree, the Red 

 Weevil. This insect 

 comes to trees wounded 

 by the Rhinoceros 

 Beetle and lays eggs 

 in the wound. For 

 this reason it is de- 

 sirable to check the 

 beetle by the de- 

 struction of its young 

 and by capturing it 

 on the attacked trees. 



The Red Weevil 1 is a more slender insect, of a red-brown colour, 

 with a conspicuous curved snout, about one and a half inches long. Its 

 life history is as follows. The weevil lays eggs singly in the tissues of 

 the palm-tree by means of her long ovipositor ; these eggs are deposited 

 in the wounds made by the Rhinoceros Beetle, in cuts made by tapping, 

 in cracks or at the base of the leaf stalk ; in fact wherever in the tree 

 the weevil's ovipositor reaches the tender tissues, she lays eggs. In 

 Ceylon it is said that the eggs are laid only in trees that have reached 

 the fruiting period, but this is not yet certain. The grubs that hatch 

 tunnel in the soft tissues, feeding on them and gradually working down 



1 J41. Rhpnchophorus sipnaticollis. Chevr. (Curpulionidse.) 



Fia. 247. 

 Palm Weevil. Below, the Cocoon. 



