﻿690 
  

  

  in 
  Java, 
  the 
  Philippine 
  Islands, 
  India 
  and 
  Ceylon, 
  and 
  attacks 
  

   the 
  tree 
  at 
  the 
  crown. 
  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  laid 
  in 
  the 
  soil 
  or 
  decaying 
  veget- 
  

   able 
  matter 
  in 
  June 
  or 
  July 
  ; 
  the 
  larvae 
  pupate 
  in 
  September, 
  

   and 
  the 
  beetle 
  emerges 
  in 
  October, 
  but 
  remains 
  in 
  the 
  soil 
  until 
  May. 
  

   The 
  beetles, 
  being 
  large 
  and 
  nocturnal, 
  are 
  easily 
  caught 
  and 
  might 
  

   be 
  attracted 
  by 
  a 
  powerful 
  lamp. 
  Since 
  they 
  never 
  oviposit 
  in 
  healthy 
  

   palms, 
  all 
  decaying 
  stumps, 
  etc., 
  should 
  be 
  removed. 
  This 
  rhinoceros 
  

   beetle 
  was 
  first 
  noticed 
  in 
  Samoa, 
  in 
  November 
  1910, 
  and 
  the 
  larvae 
  

   or 
  immature 
  beetles 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  introduced 
  with 
  vegetable 
  

   matter 
  round 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  rubber 
  plants 
  from 
  Ceylon. 
  It 
  spread 
  

   rapidly 
  and 
  steps 
  were 
  taken 
  to 
  destroy 
  the 
  pest, 
  chiefly 
  by 
  catching 
  

   the 
  beetles 
  in 
  pits 
  covered 
  over 
  with 
  decaying 
  vegetable 
  matter. 
  

   Up 
  to 
  14th 
  February 
  1912, 
  the 
  Samoan 
  Government 
  destroyed 
  : 
  

   eggs, 
  35,591 
  ; 
  larvae, 
  5,475,292 
  ; 
  pupae, 
  44 
  ; 
  adult 
  beetles, 
  102,355. 
  

   [See 
  this 
  Review, 
  Ser. 
  A, 
  ii, 
  pp. 
  26, 
  98.] 
  

  

  The 
  weevil, 
  Rhynchophorus 
  ferrugineus, 
  OH 
  v., 
  infests 
  the 
  coconut 
  and 
  

   toddy 
  palms 
  and 
  is 
  more 
  difficult 
  to 
  deal 
  with 
  than 
  0. 
  rhinoceros 
  because 
  

   it 
  enters 
  the 
  stem 
  or 
  leaf 
  stalk 
  by 
  a 
  smaller 
  hole. 
  Badly 
  infested 
  

   trees 
  should 
  be 
  cut 
  out 
  and 
  burnt. 
  Rhabdocnemis 
  obscurus, 
  

   Boisd., 
  is 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  Tahiti, 
  from 
  whence 
  it 
  was 
  intro- 
  

   duced 
  in 
  the 
  stems 
  of 
  bananas 
  into 
  the 
  Hawaiian 
  Islands 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  probably 
  

   also 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  New 
  Guinea, 
  North 
  Queensland, 
  New 
  Ireland 
  and 
  the 
  

   Solomon 
  Islands. 
  It 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  introduced 
  into 
  Fiji, 
  where 
  

   from 
  6 
  to 
  30 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  sugar 
  was 
  damaged 
  in 
  1908 
  by 
  it. 
  

   Usually 
  only 
  diseased 
  palms 
  are 
  attacked. 
  The 
  beetles 
  should 
  be 
  

   trapped 
  with 
  split 
  pieces 
  of 
  decayed 
  sugar-cane 
  before 
  they 
  have 
  

   oviposited, 
  a 
  method 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  successfully 
  adopted 
  on 
  the 
  Fiji 
  

   sugar 
  plantations. 
  Calandrataitensis, 
  Guer., 
  was 
  described 
  from 
  Tahiti 
  

   seventy 
  years 
  ago, 
  but 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  spread 
  like 
  the 
  larger 
  

   weevils 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  most 
  plentiful 
  in 
  the 
  Society 
  Islands. 
  

  

  Several 
  Hispidae 
  attack 
  coconuts, 
  including 
  Brontispa 
  froggatti, 
  

   Sharp, 
  first 
  recorded 
  from 
  New 
  Britain 
  and 
  now 
  known 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  Solomon 
  Islands, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  serious 
  coconut 
  pest. 
  The 
  

   beetle 
  crawls 
  into 
  the 
  folds 
  of 
  the 
  opening 
  fronds, 
  where 
  it 
  oviposits. 
  

   Against 
  it 
  the 
  following 
  control 
  method 
  is 
  geneially 
  adopted 
  : 
  the 
  

   operator 
  opens 
  out 
  an 
  infested 
  frond 
  with 
  one 
  hand, 
  while 
  with 
  the 
  

   other 
  he 
  shakes 
  some 
  tobacco 
  and 
  soap 
  wash 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  bottle 
  through 
  a 
  

   perforated 
  cork, 
  which 
  is 
  more 
  economical 
  than 
  spraying 
  ; 
  the 
  liquid 
  

   kills 
  all 
  the 
  beetles 
  and 
  larvae 
  it 
  touches. 
  The 
  mixture 
  is 
  composed 
  of 
  

   tobacco 
  leaf-stalks 
  boiled 
  down 
  and 
  3 
  tablets 
  of 
  Sunhght 
  soap 
  to 
  each 
  

   12 
  gallons 
  of 
  tobacco 
  wash, 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  40 
  gallons 
  being 
  between 
  

   Is. 
  Qd. 
  and 
  25. 
  Promecotheca 
  opacicollis, 
  Gestro, 
  is 
  the 
  worst 
  coconut 
  

   insect 
  pest 
  in 
  the 
  New 
  Hebrides. 
  The 
  damage 
  done 
  is 
  twofold 
  : 
  

   swarms 
  of 
  beetles 
  settling 
  on 
  the 
  under-surface 
  of 
  the 
  fronds 
  gnaw 
  out 
  

   parallel 
  grooves 
  in 
  them, 
  while 
  the 
  larvae 
  mine 
  the 
  foliage. 
  A 
  large 
  

   percentage 
  of 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  parasitised 
  by 
  a 
  Chalcid. 
  As 
  control 
  

   naeasures, 
  sprays 
  and 
  contact 
  poisons 
  are 
  unsatisfactory, 
  but 
  scorching 
  

   with 
  torches 
  has 
  been 
  tried 
  ; 
  in 
  young 
  plantations 
  numbers 
  have 
  been 
  

   caught 
  by 
  being 
  shaken 
  off 
  the 
  fronds 
  into 
  specially 
  constructed 
  

   screens. 
  

  

  Promecotheca 
  antiqua, 
  Weise, 
  has 
  been 
  recorded 
  from 
  German 
  New 
  

   Guinea, 
  New 
  Britain 
  and 
  the 
  Solomon 
  Islands. 
  Against 
  Promecotheca 
  

  

  