PEOCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 675 



When I examined the area recently last month (January 1919) T 

 found masses of Lantana yet stanchng in parts of the forests along the 

 road from Ghatang to Chikalda, and even on the plateau where destruc- 

 tion had been most carefully attended to, numerous plants were notice- 

 able, growing undetected in odd corners. .This shows how difficult it 

 is to attempt to exterminate Lantana where it has really overrun the 

 land. At present, in Coorg, operations on a very large scale are in 

 progress, for exterminating Lantana in the forest areas. Lantana stems- 

 are first cut and set fire to, in summer when dry. The stumps and 

 roots are dug out when the rains commence. For three or four years 

 in succession, the same area is watched and all Lantana seedlings are 

 carefully removed. By the fifth year the seedlings of the forest trees 

 sown by the Department have had time to shoot up and form a leaf- 

 canopy under cover of which Lantana cannot flourish. 



As may easily be conjectured, destruction by mechanical means 

 is by no means an easy task and would involve the expenditure of 

 enormous sums of money, if the aim be to exterminate Lantana 

 throughout the country. Unless the work is done with the thorough- 

 ness it demands, it is probable that it will all be labour wasted, for, 

 if a few plants be left unnoticed in odd corners, or if the roots are not 

 removed, there is nothing to prevent the plant from spreading and 

 becoming a nuisance once again. 



Lantana in Haivaii. 

 It is not in India alone that Lantana has become a serious pest. 

 The same problem has come into existence in various parts of the Tropics. 

 In Hawaii, it was reported to have been originally imported about 

 1858. The Indian Mynah which had been imported into Hawaii is 

 reported to have been chiefly instrumental in spreading the plant through- 

 out the island. By the eighties, Lantana had increased enormously 

 and become a serious problem for the ranchmen. About 1900, 

 Mr. Koebele, the Entomologist in Hawaii, hit upon the idea of 

 examining Lantana in its original home in Mexico and studying the 

 conditions existent there. In 1902 he visited Mexico and found that 

 Lantana there was subject to the attacks of various insect enemies, 

 chief among which was the Lantana seed-fly, a small Agromyzid. the 

 maggots of which bred in the unripe fruit and destroyed the embiyos. 

 There were also a Plume-moth and two butterflies, the larvae of which 

 bred in the flower-buds and led to a decrease in fruit production. There 

 were in addition a leaf-miner, a Tingidid bug on the leaves and a gall- 

 fly in the shoots. He sent parcels of all these insects to Hawai where 

 they were bred and hberated by Dr. Perkins, anothgj. En*omoloaist 



