212 A. D. PEACOCK — ENTOMOLOGICAL PESTS 



The small farmer may now be considered. However much deserved credit be 

 given the large farmers for their enterprise, it must he remembered that they 

 have done well for themselves. But the bad condition of the farms and the 

 methods in vogue at present do not simplify the question of increasing the value 

 of cocoa growing in the Colony. Therefore any method which seeks to work 

 towards this end through only the large farmer is not justified. Any legislative 

 measures dealing with the proper ordering of cocoa farms, even leniently carried 

 out, would simply wipe out the present farms. This however would not serve 

 the end of fostering the industry. New developments in this direction should 

 rather be along the line of encouraging small, workable, clean farms, worked by a 

 man and his family. Such developments will produce better farms, because they 

 take count of the personal factor. A native will work at what may be small, but 

 what is his own, far better than if he were one of an army of hired servants 

 labouring under a master. 



A policy of this kind, though it may take many years to carry out, will surely 

 be better than seeking to prop up the present state of haphazard farming 

 methods. It may be necessary to create a special branch of the Agricultural 

 Department, under an expert, whose whole time would be given to the work. 



There will be some hope then in giving instructions in entomological methods. 

 At present, practically nothing is known of the pests of grown cocoa trees in the 

 Colony. Further entomological research on these is imperative and should be 

 given a front place in any future work. In conjunction with this, the economic 

 importance of termites should be determined. 



But combative entomological methods must be viewed in their true relation to 

 general agricultural methods. The Economic Entomologist in Southern Nigeria 

 must be an Agricultural Officer first and an Economic Entomologist afterwards. 



INSECTS AFFECTING MAIZE. 



Cirphis fphaea, Hmp. 



The only specimens of the moth obtained were received from the Curator, 

 Agricultural Department, Onitsha, and were damaged in transport. For this 

 reason precise identification was rendered difficult. By comparison with speci- 

 mens in the British Museum, it appears that the South Nigerian Army Worm is 



Cirphis phaea. 



Reports of the presence of caterpillar swarms in April and May have been 

 received from Erukute, Egbeda and Ibadan (W.P.), from Onitsha (C.P.), in 

 September and October 1910, and from Calabar and Aro Chuku (E.P.) in 

 April 1912. Further work will certainly show that these insects occur in many 

 other places in the Colony. 



To most people who have observed these swarms there seems something cryptic 

 and uncanny about them. Innumerable larvae seem suddenly to appear from 

 nowhere, to advance intently in crawling masses, leaving not a trace of grass or 

 maize behind them, and then, just as suddenly, to disappear. 



The larvae are dark green in colour, with darker longitudinal stripes. They 

 reach a length of nearly \\ inches. The plants upon which they feed are grasses, 

 including the imported Bahama grass, and maize. These plentiful foods provide 



