NUTMEGS AND MACE 131 



This, of course, would prevent fertilisation, but it seems 

 to be an infrequent occurrence. 



A leaf mining caterpillar has been met with both 

 by myself and Dr. Oxley, who says that these insects 

 rapidly spread and cause great havoc. 



Batocera Hector, Dej. A large, brown longicorn 

 beetle, not uncommon all over the Malay region, is 

 accused by Dr. Koningsberger of attacking the nutmeg 

 in Java. Its larva burrows beneath the bark and into 

 the wood. It attacks a number of trees, such as 

 Albizzia moluccana and Erythrinas. The larva is 

 about 4 in. long and rather flat. The perfect insect is 

 3 in. long, with long antennae and a thorn on each side 

 of the thorax. 



. Lachnosterna sp. A small brown chafer of the 

 group of Lamellicorns, less than 1 in. long, of a deep 

 chocolate-brown colour, quite smooth except the under 

 parts, which are covered with a soft down, and its legs, 

 which are hairy. The grub is a white larva with a 

 brown head, about 1 in. long and of the usual form of 

 the lamellicorn larvae. This chafer attacks the roots 

 of many plants, the larva burrowing among them and 

 eating them. It has been found attacking nutmegs in 

 Penang. 



Astyclius chrysocliloris, Wied. A green weevil, 

 about \ in. long, covered with golden scales, which are 

 easily rubbed off, has given some trouble in various 

 parts of the Malay Peninsula by devouring the leaves of 

 all manner of trees, including nutmegs. Mr. Wray has 

 described it in Perak Museum Notes, vol. ii. 1, 1897. 



The egg is laid in the ground, and the grub, which 

 apparently feeds on decaying vegetable matter till it 

 grows to a length of f in., forms a chamber in the earth 

 and pupates there, about 2 in. below the surface of 

 the ground. It hatches out at night, and commences 

 to devour the leaves of any tree it comes across. It 

 lives for three months, eating voraciously the whole 

 time, and does not leave a tree till it has eaten every 

 leaf. It breeds a month after hatching, and lays its 



