114 CACAO 



in common. Mr. Nurse, who first traced their history, 

 says : " The female selects a suitable spot and glues her 

 eggs thereto, after which she steps down an inch or so 

 below the spot and cuts a circular furrow or incision quite 

 round the branch and deep into the wood, in fact, deeply 

 " ringing " it. The food-supply is thereby cut off and it 

 gradually dies, and in due course falls to the ground. 

 From this branch the larvae obtain their supply of food, 

 and ultimately pupate, and rise again as winged insects 

 to renew the attack. The method of control is obvious, 

 viz., collect all cut branches, destroy all beetles seen, and 

 gather up and destroy branches already on the ground. 

 This insect is not common, but occurs in certain districts 

 in Trinidad." Messrs. Nurse and Broadway observed the 

 habits of these insects in the field in Trinidad, 1908. 



No. 9. " Root Borer " {Diaprepes ahhreviatus), first 

 known as doing considerable damage to sugar-cane, also 

 attacks cacao. It was found destroying roots of cacao in 

 1905 by Mr. F. Wallen, of Arima, Trinidad. It is, 

 however, not widely distributed and the harm it does as 

 a whole is inconsiderable. 



No. 10. Beetles of the groups Carabidce and Cassididce 

 feed upon young leaves, but seldom effect any material 

 damage. 



No. lOfl. Rutela lineola, L. was recently detected 

 doing considerable leaf destruction. 



No. 11. " Scavenger Beetles " {Neilus unicornis, Par- 

 salus interruptus and Brentus anchorago) are considered 

 to render considerable service in the disintegration of vege- 

 table matter, and in keeping some pests in check. 



No. 12. These are beetles found among cacao fields, 

 the life history of which has not been worked out, and 

 they are, therefore, still under close observation. 



No. 13. "The Dead Pod Beetle" (Arcecerus fasci- 

 culatus," De Geer). — A cosmopolitan species of the family 

 Anthribidce has been found in numbers in dead pods in 

 Trinidad. It has been determined by the staff of the 

 Bureau of Entomology, United States, by ^\ie kindness of 



