274 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



issue of the same journal, Mr. Banks gives a 

 bibliography dealing with all the insects known 

 up to that date as attacking the coco-nut 

 palm. In this section he tells us that two 

 forms of Lepidoptera are found on the leaves 

 of the coco-nut, say, the coco-nut skipper 

 (Padrona chrysozona, Plotz) and the coco- 

 nut slug-caterpillar (Thosea cinereamarginata, 

 Banks). Neither is likely to prove a very 

 serious menace to the trees ; each attacks the 

 leaves after they are practically full grown. 

 They seem to attach themselves to a single 

 leaf until the whole is devoured. Although 

 not found in quantities sufficient to form a 

 menace, these pests tend to debilitate the trees 

 by eating the leaves, and their larvae should be 

 destroyed whenever met with. Two parasites, 

 the Chalcis obscurata (Walk.) and an unidenti- 

 fied Braconid, attack the larvae of the skipper, 

 which they kill through pupating in the pupa 

 of the skipper. 



Coccidae or scale insects, urges Banks, do 

 very considerable injury to the coco-nut palms, 

 for it is rare to find one which does not, by its 

 yellow or brown leaves, indicate the ravages 

 of these pests, which may easily escape atten- 

 tion. In the Philippines, so far as is known, 

 seven species of Coccidae are found upon the 

 coco-nut. Of these, the Aspid^ot^ls destructor 

 (Sign), an extremely prolific scale, is by far the 

 most important and destructive ; next comes 

 Chrysomphalus propsimus (Banks), a species 



