No. 3.] Original Communications. 75 



a ppears to be far from abundant. It is too soon to lay much 

 stress on this point with the insufficient data at present to hand. 

 It is worth while recording, however, that Lieutenant Gage, out of 

 79 sets of diseased canes examined, found traces of a moth borer in 

 one only, whereas the Xyleborus was present in 65 out of the 79. 



I noticed this curious absence of the C, simplex in Chittagong 

 or rather its scarcity as compared with the Xyleborus. It may be 

 but a coincidence due to a peculiarity of the season. 



Remedies. --Since this insect lives its life within the cane in a 

 not very dissimilar manner to the way in which C. simplex spends 

 its existence, the remedies applicable are much the same as those 

 described above for the sugarcane borer. 



The Editors of the Kew Bulletin write in connection with its 

 attacks on the West Indian cane : — 



" There should be no difficulty experienced by intelligent planters in the West 

 Indies in dealing with this cane borer. The infested canes should be destroyed 

 either by burning or passing through the rollers of the cane mills. Care should be 

 devoted to the selection of plant canes, to ensure that 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 decayed state in the neighbourhood 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 sugarcanes 

 at intervals for nearly sixty years, but its influence has been rendered compara- 

 tively harmless by the systematic destruction of infested canes, and by examining 

 and dressing the 'plant' canes before they are put into the fields. These simple 

 and effective methods are fortunately within the reach of everyone." 



5,— Termes taprobanes, Walker ( ' White ant '). 



References.—- List Neurop. Inx. B. M. Pt. Ill (Termit.), p. 252-59. 

 Classification.— Ovdei Orthoptera Pseudoneuroptera. Family Termitidcs, 



This insect is the well-known so-called ' white ant', or termite, of 

 India. 



Life History. — T. taprobanes lives in communities which consist 

 of the following four sets of individuals: — 



(i) A female or queen with enormously distended abdomen; 

 she is incapable of locomotion and lays all the eggs of 

 the community. 



(2) Small ant-like neuters, which may be compared to the 

 worker bees. They are of two kinds, vis., individuals 

 with large heads and sharp mandibles to defend the nest, 

 and individuals with small heads to build the passages 



