No. 1.1 



3Iiscelloneous Notes. 



17 



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From Mr. Marshall Woodrow, of Poona, were received iu Octoljer 



1890 specimens of a 

 Areca Piilm Cocc'.d, iu the Konkau. ., ., i.l ^ li 



Aiec.i x-.iiiii K. coceid said to attack the 



Sttparee unt palm , {Areca 

 catechu) in the Janjira 

 State, on the coast, about 

 80 miles south of Bom- 

 bay, the outturn of dress- 

 ed beetle nuts having 

 been reduced by the 

 ravages of the pest, 

 from 10 lbs. per tree to 

 1 lb. per tree. The trees 

 were said to have suffer- 

 ed for the last twsnty- 

 five years from tb is insect, 

 which has become spe- 

 cially troublesome during 

 the past six or seven 

 years. The specimens were submitted to Mr. W. Maskell, who has 

 kindly furnished the following note on the identifications of the species :— • 



"The insect is, as regards the female, so much like Chionaspis aspiclistrce, 

 Signoret, that I may consider it identical with that species. The female pupariuin 

 agrees in its yellow colour and pyriform shape ; the second pellicle is rather large ; and. 

 the enclosed insect has the remarkably prominent abdominal segments, as shown ia 

 the enclosed rough sketch, characteristic of C. aspidistrce. As far as I can make 

 out, Aspidistra is a genus of half a dozen species of ornamental plants in China and 

 Japan ; and it seems quite likely that (supposing jou to have none of the genus in 

 India) this scale may hare other food plants, of which one would be Areca catechu. 

 I could not, amongst the numerous specimens you sent me, discover any male puparia. 

 In C. aspidistrce these would be small, white, narrow and carinated. Iu the absence 

 of the perfect certainty winch these puparia would give us I think my diagnosis of 

 the female is probably correct." 



With regard to remedies, Mr. Woodrow recommended the people 

 to fire the badly-affected trees and to wash those which were but slightly 

 attacked with an emulsion made in the proportion of one gallon of 

 water, one ounce of sulphate of copper, one ounce of kerosine oil, and a 

 handful of cowdung, to ba applied three times at intervals of a few days, 

 so as to destroy the young as fast as they emerged. It may also be 

 noticed that, as the experience of entomologists in the United States 

 has shown that kerosine and soap emulsion is the best application for 

 destroying Scale insects of all kinds, recouree might be had to it, if the 

 treatment suggested by Mr. Woodrow should prove insuflicient. Full 

 directions for the preparation of kerosine and soap emulsion will be 

 found in earlier numbers of these Notes. 



