Butterflies and Moths as Botanists. 133 
endogens. Its recorded food plants include wild pines, orchids and Musacee, 
the banana family. Whether it bores into any of the larger grasses is unknown, 
at present, but as many of the cane-pests come from the Graminacee this is quite 
possible. Being a stem borer it may have been overlooked in the forest region. 
It is not unlikely to become a dangerous pest to bananas and plantains which 
makes it all the more necessary to find out how to deal with its ravages and 
p event it ‘rom becoming a greater dange’. It must be considezed possible 
that as this has discovered the cane other insects may do the same. For, there 
is no doubt that instinct is not quite such a uniform matter as was once supposed. 
Some of the cane-pests come from grasses. The small borer-moth Diatrea 
is a grass borer and will attack several grasses including Paspalums which are so 
common on estates’ dams. Possibly it would be well to have the dams mown 
at regular intervals. Other possible cane-pests that Co not bore are Remigia 
repanda which a few years ago came from the grasses to the canes and ravaged 
the leaves in such a manner that the plants must have been much weakened. 
There is a pretty white moth (Carama) common also on grasses that may become 
a cane-pest. Several skipper butterflies (Hesperide) are also found on the leaves. 
They fold the leaves together and lie hidden during the day ; when such folds are 
seen they should be always pinched. Their more c-mmon food plants are the 
arrowroots and Cannas, which they often eat down to bare stems. A rather 
pretty butterfly, C@rois chorineus, has been reported on canes ; it is known to 
feed on palms and may at any time find out our cane-fields. At present it appears 
to be rare. There is also the genus Hwptychia, those dull coloured butterflies 
with eye-spots underneath, which are grass feeders and may be looked for as 
a probabledanger. Several cut-worm moths are also suspicious. 
This long string of possibly dangerous insects to the planter will no doubt 
make him wince, but the matter must be faced. Some twenty-five years ago 
I saw the necessity for a proper study of the pests of our economic plants, but 
only during the last five years have I been able to work at it in a systematic 
manner. A little has been done but we are only on the threshold of our work. 
Every planter must assist so that the dangers may be anticipated and, if 
possible, nipped in the bud. 
Other economic plants have not been so well investigated as the sugar-cane, 
but enough has been done to show that all have their pests. Cacao has the 
butterfly, Callizona aceste ; coffee, species of Pyrrhogyra and Adelpha ; cassava, 
a hawk-moth, Dilophonota ello, rice, some skipper butterflies, and maize, several 
moths. Our pigeon-peas have borers, in stem and pod, beans are ravaged by 
moths, sweet potatoes have stem borers and a rapacious hawk-moth, Protoparce 
cingulata, tobacco has Protoparce paphus and several smaller moths and our 
tomatoes and capsicums also quite a host. These it must be remembered are 
butterflies and moths, were we to deal with beetles, bugs, grasshoppers, etc., we 
should hardly have room for an enumeration. Then there are fungoid pests 
which often attack plants that have been weakened by the insect ravages ; the 
rind-fungus is one of these and the mango blight another. 
Returning to our subject we have so much to say that the limits of this article 
will only permit of a skimming. The banana and plantain diseases are generally 
