PESTS 37 



long ovipostor it reaches the base of the leaf- 

 stalk of the palm and pushes its eggs deeply 

 into the body of the tree, The egg, on hatching, 

 produces a white, footless grub. It burrows 

 tunnels through the soft growing parts of the 

 palm, and when full grown nibbles its way to 

 the surface and eventually hatches out into the 

 perfect insect, when it flies away to commence 

 its life work of propagation. 



The red beetle is not favoured with any means 

 for boring holes in the stem, and takes advan- 

 tage, therefore, in so far as old trees are con- 

 cerned, of any artificial openings, cuts, or, in 

 particular, the bore holes of the black species. 



The methods adopted for exterminating the 

 black beetle in the tree also apply to the red, 

 and it is common to" find both kinds in the same 

 hole. It is very probable that the extermination 

 of the black beetle will greatly reduce the 

 number of the red ones by preventing their 

 getting into the heart of the tree by means of 

 the burrows of the black insect. 



The red beetle grub does its fatal work hidden 

 from view, as with white ants, and is only dis- 

 covered when too late. The first sign of any- 

 thing wrong is usually the withering and fall of 

 the central shoot. As soon as the grub is dis- 

 covered, spare not the tree ; it should be cut 

 down and every bit burnt so as to prevent 

 any remaining grub from arriving at the 

 perfect stage and thus carrying on the work 

 of destruction. 



