>on hatching, get 

 the food it requires. 



Whether a tree is selected for egg-laying in preference to others is 

 obviously deter] at thai time. As a rule, the act 



of egg-laying passes unnoticed, and the health of the tree only becomes 

 a subject for inquiry some time later, when the work of the grubs is 

 apparent; and the inquiry is therefore complicated by the necessity for 

 distinguishing between an unhealthy condition occurring as a result of 

 the infestation, and one which may hav originally brought it about. 



The female is stated to lay her eggs singly, in accordance with the 

 habit of other weevils, by perforating the rin 1 ol the tree and depositing 

 an egg in the hole made. The appearance of the eggs and the number 

 laid by each female have not yet been recorded. 



It is desirable to know the exact spot selected for oviposition in order 

 that it may be artificially protected. At present the evidence does not 

 place it beyond doubt. It is generally admitted ihat eggs are not laid in 

 the leaf-stalks nor upon the leaf-spike, when their hard -ilieious surface is 

 unbroken; and the laying of eggs on the stem is limited below by its 

 maturity, and the consequent presence under the rind of hard wood, for 

 the grub is not a hard- wood feeder, but devours the pithy interior of the 

 stem, and, as before stated, the beetle will not lay its eggs where the 

 young larva cannot get its proper food. 



The vulnerable point lies, therefore, about the upper part of the stem, 

 below the attachments of the leaves, and above the woody portion. In 

 young trees, where the wood has hardly begun to form, and the stem 

 is only from one to three feet long, any point above ground is open to 

 attack, and even, according to Mr. Bellamy, below it (28). But fuller 

 evidence is required in support of this statement, which may rest on the 

 erroneous interpretation of observed facts. 



In the Commissioners' report, Dr. Gabb states that out of the 

 trees he examined "a large number . . . especially those which 

 " were inclined to one side, or on other protected parts, [sic] had the 

 " eggs of the weevil deposited in them near the ground on the under 



Mr. Bellamy says " it lays its eggs in the inequalities of the bark 

 " at or near the surface of the ground" (28). 



These are all the particulars about its egg-lacing, a.nd no detailed 

 evidence is given in support of them ; this ought to be done to prevent 



sub.-equcnt doubt, lor, unless the act of oviposition is observed, it is 

 difficult to exclude the possibility of a mistake. 



Even though any point between the head of the tree and the ground 



conditions, there is in trees trimmed by the planter a weak spot readily 

 available for egg-laying, and one where the majority of eggs are almost 

 certainly hud. 



palm-leaf widens out into a tri- 

 stem, so as to overlap its fellow and 

 encircle about one-half the circumference of the trunk: and the space 

 between adjoining leaves is filled up by the coarse matted fibres of the 

 leaf-sheaths. In this way the tender part of the stem is thoroughly 

 protected above the line of attachment of the lowest pair of leaves. 



As the leaves grow old they droop and hang down ; and to improve 

 the appearance of the plantation and rough it " 



j the n 



