DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM. 129 



these and then usually deposited a single egg in it. 

 Sometimes 2 or 3 eggs were found near each other in a separate 

 hole. One female in captivity laid 276 eggs in 49 days and another 

 laid 127 eggs in 46 days. Eggs laid in March hatched out about 

 4 days after being laid. The larvae spun their cocoons 24 to 61 

 days after hatching. The insect remained in the cocoon stage for 

 periods of from 18 to 34 days, and the whole time taken from the 

 laying of the egg till the appearance of the imago was 48 to 82 days. 

 The imago lived for 50 to 90 days and required a constant supply 

 of food. The pest appears to pass the whole of its life on the 

 food plant ; eggs are laid, the grubs (larva?) feed and pupate 

 (form cocoons) in the plant. 



It is not exactly known how and where the eggs are laid 

 in nature, but it seems that thev are not laid 



/ 



Mode Affecting deep in the plant tissues. It also seems that the 

 part chosen for oviposition will be moist and 

 provide more or less soft pithy tissues for the young grubs. 

 The beetles themselves also want such tissue to feed upon. 

 This would explain why the top regions of the stems of 

 adult trees are apparently first attacked. 



Dr. Barber, Government Botanist, Madras, appears to think 

 that the weevil enters the inflorescence where the spathe opens, 

 and lays eggs there. It is believed that the weevils do not require 

 any special crack or cut for laying their eggs in, as they can 

 easily creep down the leaf-sheath and reach the soft base of the 

 top of the shoot, then gnaw a hole there and thrust in the egg. 

 It is thought most probable that eggs are deposited in this 

 manner in the comparatively soft tissues near the tops of the 

 trees and that the larvae bore down the stem. The exposure of 

 soft tissues by wounds, etc., is supposed to specially expose trees 

 to attacks however. Another insect pest the Rhinoceros beetle- 

 referred to on page 135, is said to bore a hole often over 1 inch in 

 diameter into the base of the central bud of date trees in some parts 

 of India and the red weevil is said to often make use of this hole 

 to get at the soft heart of the tree. Many trees are supposed 

 to be attacked by the red weevil in this way in these localities. 



M, DP 9 



