THE CUBA REVIEW 



31 



PEST ATTACKING AGUACATE TREES 



The aguacate is one of the most popular 

 of Cuha's fruits and the report that a de- 

 structive worm had been discovered on a 

 farm near Havana caused much alarm. 



The Cuba Review immediately wrote to 

 Sr. Francisco Real, at Santiago de las 

 Vegas, on whose farm the pest had been 

 found, for sample of infected leaves and 

 twigs from the tree. Sr. Real very kindly 

 sent a box of both worms and leaves, ac- 

 companied by a very interesting letter re- 

 garding the habits of the pest, of which 

 the following is a translation : 



September 6. 1911. 

 Editor of The Cub.\ Review: 

 New York City, N. Y. 



Dear Sir — I am sending you, as per your re- 

 quest, some of the insects that destroy the 

 aguacate. 



It may probably surprise you that these in- 

 sects, which I am closing up in a box, will 

 abandon the leaves and stick on to the in- 

 side walls of the box. I cut off a branch and 

 hung it in our parlor; the insects seemed not to 

 be entirely at their ease, they probably missed 

 the sun or the out-door air; and six or eight 

 hours later they began to let themselves down 

 by a little thread that they make, after the man- 

 ner of the silk-worm. 



These insects make their cocoon or cartridge 

 from the same leaf, and when the cocoon gets 

 to be about an inch long it seems they cannot 

 break it, and they die inside as you will see by 

 the samples I am sending you. 



I have seen the fruit eaten by this insect, but 

 not very badly damaged; but it is the leaves they 

 eat, and they leave the tree completely bare. 

 They form their cocoons and stick them in the 

 strongest place, where the twigs of the leaves 

 branch off, seemingly with some instinct, as 

 though they understood that if they stuck their 

 cocoons on to the leaves the weight of the cocoons 

 would make the leaf fall, while sticking it on to the 

 strongest part of the twig they are safe. 



These are all the details I can give you for 

 the moment, if I should observe anything else later 

 on, I will advise you of it with great pleasure. 

 "\"ery truly yours, 



Francisco Real. 

 Finca Leona. 



Santiago de las Vegas, 

 Havana Province, Cuba. 



The box of insects and infected leaves 

 was forwarded by The Cuba Review to 

 the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Bureau of Entomology, at Washing- 

 ton, for examination and for any remedial 

 suggestions. In a few days the follow- 

 ing reply was received from the depart- 

 ment : 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Entomology, 



. washington, d. c. 



September 25, 1911. 

 Editor of The Cuba Review: 

 New York City, N. Y. 



Dear Sir — Your letter of September 14th, with 

 specimens of insects under separate cover, came 

 duly to hand in this bureau recently, I have de- 

 layed answering in the hope of giving a specific 



Bag-worm or basket-worm 



determination of the pest. However, our expert 

 on this particular group is away at present, but 

 on his return the specimens will be sent to him 

 for specific determination. We are attempting to 

 rear these lar\-ae in the greenhouse. As to rem- 

 edial measures, the insects are closely related 

 to the common bagworm, and as they eat the en- 

 tire foliage in the larger stages and feed upon 

 the underside of the leaves while young, the 

 treatment of the under sides of tke leaves with an 

 arsenical according to directions given for the 

 treatment of the bagworm will undoubtedly be ef- 

 fective in their control. Upon receiving specific 

 identification of these insects or breeding the 

 adults, I will be glad to inform you of any point 

 which may be made clear. 



Yours truly, 



F. H. Chittenden, 

 In Charge Truck Crop and Stored 

 Product Insect Investigations. 



An illustration of the bag-w^orm or 

 basket-worm referred to in Mr. Chitten- 

 den's letter appears on this page. It re- 

 sembles very closely the specimens attack- 

 ing the Cuban aguacate trees. The spray 

 recommended in the letter is for evergreen 

 and maples and consists of 1 pound of 

 Paris green to 150 gallons of water. Ar- 

 senate of lead in the prepared paste form 

 in the proportions of 1 pound to from 25 

 to 50 gallons of w-ater is better recom- 

 mended as its great adhesiveness renders 

 it less likelv to be w^ashed off bv rains. 



TOBACCO CROP NEWS 



The held conditions of the new seed- 

 lings were reported to be excellent all over 

 the Vuelta Abajo late in September and 

 hopes are entertained for a good crop for 

 the coming season. The fields for planting 

 wei'v; being prepared, and it was reported 

 that the farmers w^ere more generally put- 

 ting out small patches of gardens and vege- 

 tables for local consumption. 



