SUGAK-CANE INSECTS. 451 



this work; and though the part of the island in 

 which I sojourned is not a sugar-growing district, 

 the zeal and experience of my friend Mr. Hill will 

 supply the deficiency of my knowledge. 



The insects that have been noticed as injurious to 

 the cane are principally the following: — the Borer- 

 Weevil, the Borer-Moth, the Cane Aphis, the Cane 

 Fly, and the Termite. 



Of the first of these, the Borer- Weevil {Calandra 

 sacchari), the best account is contained in a prize 

 communication made to the Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety of Jamaica, by Mr. Samuel Kell King, of 

 Portland, and published in the Society's " Reporter" 

 for March 6th, 184-5. It is of considerable length, 

 and being the result of great practical experience, is 

 doubtless valuable. I shall make a few extracts 

 from it, and condense the rest of the information. 

 Mr. King suggests that the insect is not indigenous, 

 but that it was imported into Jamaica from Taliiti ; 

 for it suddenly appeared in 1797, the year after the 

 Tahitian varieties of the Cane were introduced into 

 the island. 



The insect Mr. King thus describes in its trans- 

 formations. *' An e^^g, the size of a small bead, in a 

 considerable degree transparent, is deposited within 

 the succulent vessels of the cane, where the adhering 

 footstalk of the leaf retains the decayed foliage 



hanging to the germinating joint The e^g 



deposited is hatched at the time when the growing 

 bud, usually called the eye, exhibits the active influ- 

 ences of both heat and moisture. As soon as the 

 maggot is formed, it commences its voracious injuries 



