264 COCOA 



CHAP. 



the fight against the various borers proceeds every- 

 where along the same general lines. 



The beetle or moth lays its eggs against the stem 

 or against a branch, often in a little hole made for 

 the purpose in the bark. The larva or "worm" lives 

 for some time in the bark or in the wood, and damages 

 the tree to a greater or smaller extent. Often the 

 presence of one borer may cause the death of a whole 

 branch, which then looks as if it had been killed by 

 fire, all the brown and dry leaves remaining hanging 

 on the twigs. Whole trees, especially young ones, may 

 be killed in this way when the borer lives in the stem. 



At present the general way of fighting the borers 

 is to remove the "worms" or larvae, cutting away the 

 bark by means of a knife until the worm is exposed. 

 On many plantations a gang of trained " worm-pickers " 

 is kept for this purpose. If possible these men also 

 collect the perfect insects whether beetle or moth 

 but generally the number of captured perfect insects 

 is small in comparison with the number of captured 



" worms." 



There are, however, methods of using " traps," 

 especially for the beetles and their eggs, and perhaps 

 traps for the moths may eventually be found. 



Different species of borers. The West Indian 

 cocoa-borer (Steirastoma depressum) (Fig. 87) is one 

 of the worst pests in some of the Antilles (Trinidad, 

 Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique) and in various 

 countries of the South American continent (Venezuela, 

 Colombia, Surinam, and Demerara). It has been 

 observed for many years, but was only recently sub- 

 jected to thorough investigation. 1 We are indebted to 

 Mr. Guppy for having given us a clear exposition of the 

 life-history of this pest, and of the methods of combating 

 it, and the following particulars are to a large extent 

 borrowed from his article. 



This borer lives not only in the cocoa tree, but also 



1 Guppy, "The Life-history and Control of the Cocoa-beetle "( Trinidad 

 Board of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 1, 1911). 



