38 Indian Museum Notes. [Vol. IV, 



This insect is referred to in these Notes, Volume II, No. 6, page 

 167 : — 



"One common insect is not mentioned in the conspectus which sometimes 

 deserves a place among destructive pests — I mean the carpenter bee, Xylocopct. 

 It makes its nests, as is well known, in dead wood, and in this district 1 have 

 found it attacking the timbers of buildings, which are not regularly inhabited, such 

 as travellers' bungalows and temples, in such numbers as to render them unsafe 

 In the roof of an old bungalow which was recently pulled down, several of the 

 beams were riddled through and through with holes, f of an inch in diameter ; 

 and I have been told that the roof of a public building in Karwar had to be re- 

 newed some time ago because the bees had weakened some of the beams so much 

 that they were not safe. This is, of course, the insect that was employed by 

 Hanuman to honeycomb the wood-work of the bed of a female demon, so that 

 when Rama sat upon it, the whole bed fell to pieces and he was saved from being 

 obliged to fulfil a rash vow. It is known here Commonly by the same name as 

 ihe Palm 'Bee.\.\e—Bho-wara" 



The following is taken from a report, dated 2rst June 1893, by 



Mr. E. Hearn, Acting Deputy Superintend- 

 Report from Konkan. , jj- 1 o 



ent, Konkan burvey :— 



2, " Or yctes rhinoceros, U\nr\. (Goliath beetle). — This beetle is a common 

 pest of all cocoanut gardens throughout the Konkan coast. The Bhandari 

 during his daily visit to tapped trees makes it a special duty to search for this 

 beetle. If through neglect or mischance the beetle has worked down into a posi- 

 tion whence it cannot be reached by hand, an iron hook is used for extraction. 

 If the beetle effects a permanent lodgment in the heart of any tree that tree 

 must die. 



" The general name is ' Mobar ' or ' Munga.' " 



2. " Rhynchopk or zis/errugineus, OWv.— When a tree is attacked there is a 

 foetid oozing from the outer trunk of the cocoanut palm, which withers and dies. 

 When cut down and opened out, the larvae are found in masses of white, fleshy 

 legless grubs showing few signs of activity. The natives of the villages near 

 Nerur of the Kudal Petha, Sawantwadi State, informed me that the disease may 

 be arrested by boring a hole about one inch in diameter through the palm tree at 

 the seat of the oozing, and thus destroying the grub by introducing ventilation 

 into that part of the tree. The disease was said to occur in trees planted in 

 recent silt deposits near rivers. 



" I observed this particular pest in the year 1874-75 and cannot now recall the 

 name of the insect, which I have not met with since." 



3. " Chienaspis Aspidistra. — The insect h^s been for a number of years ravag- 

 ing the gardens at Shriwardhan, Janjira State. A scientific report upon the pest, 

 dated nth May 1891, was made by Mr. Woodrow of the College cf Science, 

 The remedial measures suggested therein have not been consistently carried out by 

 the people, and the disease has a firm root among the gardens." 



