BEETEES DESTRUCTIVE TO COCO-NUT PALMS. 5 
and it is exceedingly improbable that the grubs are able to 
live in mangrove mud. Whena plantation is abandoned or ne- 
glected, as soon as one or two trees die, the beetles come to at- 
tack and lay their eggs in the decaying stumps. From one tree 
they fly to another, and soon the whole plantation is in a dy- 
ing state, and if there be any other estates near at hand, the 
beetle goes on to them, and will do a-great deal of damage. 
It would be easy enough in a clean kept estate to keep 
down the beetles, but where there is an endless supply of 
them in an adjoining estate, the matter is of great difficulty, 
and the destruction is something remarkable. <A rotten coco- 
nut tree lasts a very long time in a state of decay, and over 
a thousand beetles could be bred from one before it was quite 
destroyed. Not only do the grubs live in the erect andjfallen 
stems, but the butts left in the ground are often full of 
them, and I have even seen them in the timber of little brid- 
ges made of two or three pieces of coco-nut stems laid across 
a ditch in a plantation. 
Other timber they do not attack, as it does not decay into 
the powdery, soft mass that they require for the grub to 
live in. 
Methods of Destruction.— The usual method of destruction 
of this insect in the trees, is to employ men to examine the 
bases of the leaf stalks of the palms frequently, and to search 
for the beetles. They are provided with a flexible iron or 
copper wire terminated by a barb, with which the beetle is 
speared in its burrow and drawn out. A tree once attacked 
should be frequently examined, as it is more liable to future 
attacks than those which have never been attacked. So long 
as the beetle is killed by the spear, there is no real need to 
extract it ; in fact it is, to a certain extent, advantageous ot 
leave its remains in the hole, as no beetles will again enter 
the hole while the dead one is there. In any case, it is ad- 
visable to plug the holes with bits of rag or tufts of fibre 
dipped in weak carbolic acid, as this will deter beetles. Many 
planters affirm that putting salt in the crown of the tree will 
keep away beetles. I have not found this remarkably success- 
ful. Probably the salt is indirectly beneficial by being washed 
