Yol. 2. ] 



Miscellaneous Notes^ 



101 



j\'o/es as a common pest to young indig-o [Ivfligofera iivcforia) and otlier 

 crops in var'ous parts of )ndia. Little is known of its liabits, and no 

 satisfactory means of dealing with it seams yet to liave been recorded. 



In llie Keio Bulletin for April 1892 is an interesting- note on the 

 Xylehorm perforans. subject of the little Scolytid beetle X//lelwrns 



perforana WoUaston which has recently been 

 reported as attacking growini^r snsrar-canes in the West Indies. The 

 species was ori<jina!ly described by Wollaston from specimens found, per- 

 forating the bungs of wine casks at Madeira. In South America it has 

 been recorded as boring into lum casks, also as frequenting cane refuse 

 and rotting vegetable matter, £nd as attracted by lights at night. In 

 India it has been noticed as boring into beer casks. (^) The danger now 

 is that it may take to attacking growing sugar-cane in India to a serious 

 extent as it is said to have already done in the West Indies. With re- 

 g-ard to remedies the Editors of the Kew Bnllefin write : — ■ 



i. 



tS^^^ 



n 



"There should be no diriiculty experienced b}^ intelligent planters in the West In- 

 dies in dealin^: witli this cane-borer. The infe.sted canes should be destroyed, either 

 by burning or passing tbroujih the rollers of the cane mills. Care shou]d be devoted to 

 the selection of ' plant ' canes, to ensure thiit they are free from the grubs and eggs 

 of the beetle, and precautions should be taken to get rid of all the cane refuse in a decay- 

 ed state in the neighbourliood of the cultivated fields. In other respects the same steps 

 are necessary with this borer as have been found effective in the case of the moth borer. 

 This latter has been known to attack sugar-canes at intervals for nearly sixty years, (^) 

 hut its influence has been rendered coir paralively harmless by the systematic destruc- 

 tion of infested canes, and by examining and diessing the 'plant' canes before they 

 are put into the fields. These simple and oflPective methods are fortunately within the 

 reach of every one." 



(')It w;is at first supposed to belong to the genus Tomic.us, and the commissariat Serjeants 

 are said to have appropriately dubbed it " Tippling Tommy." In his report on Insects de- 

 structive to foi ests, Allaliabad 1868, Mr. R. Thompson writes: " I believe this to bo a species 

 of Tomicus, a minute cylindrical species I have observed boring into beer and water casks ; 

 as they bore clean through the wood, the liquor miiy be seen jetting out at various points. 

 and hy the force of the discharge the little borers are thiown out with it." 



{^) Vide the account of this insect given in Volume I, page 22, of those Notes. 



