Ii8 IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 



plantain, allies of their native food plants, but 

 hitherto it has not become a great pest to these. 

 At any time, however, especially if it goes on 

 increasing, we may safely predict it will become 

 a factor to be reckoned with and perhaps affect 

 the supply of bananas. Hitherto, as far as we can 

 gather, it has only appeared in one island, Trinidad, 

 but there is always a possibility of its spreading 

 over the world as the smaller moth, Diatraea 

 saccharalis, appears to have done There is a 

 genus of butterflies which feed on the banana, but 

 hitherto it has not been very conspicuous ; it is 

 highly desirable, however, that every grower should 

 keep in view the fact that an insect may always 

 be reckoned as a probable pest. 



For many years the coconut pest was always 

 considered to be the palm weevil. The larva of 

 this beetle feeds upon the unopened shoot which 

 is the seat of life ; as there is only one growing 

 point the tree is killed. The cultivator has always 

 had to reckon with this, but latterly another most 

 virulent pest has come to the front. Avenues of 

 cabbage palms and plantations of coconuts that 

 have escaped the weevil for eighty years succumb 

 to the butterfly, Brassolis sophorae. Like the 

 Castnia, it appears to have discovered that these 

 cultivated plants are more juicy than the wild 



