6 BEETLES DESTRUCTIVE TO COCO-NUT PALMS. 
down to the roots by the rains, and there absorbed, and as 
anything that improves the health of a tree enables it also to 
resist and recover from the attacks of insects, the manuring by 
salt in this manner is of advantage indirectly against the pest. 
Kerosine and phenyl may also be used in place of carbolic 
acid, but they are less effective. 
Another method of destruction consisis in making large 
fires of the fallen leaves and husks in the plantations at 
night. The brilliant light of the fires attracts the beetles, 
which are beaten into the fires by men and boys armed with 
branches of trees. 
Plan for E-xtermination.—Although it is obvious that there 
will always be sufficient food in the form of decaying vegeta- 
ble matter to supply the needs of the beetle, so that it is 
really impossible to exterminate it, its numbers can be very 
greatly reduced by destroying in and near plantations all rub- 
bish, leaves, husks and other vegetable refuse, or at least not 
allowing piles of it to accumulate. All dead trees should be 
cut into small pieces and burnt. And whereas it is absolutely 
useless for any cultivator to keep his plantations clear of 
rubbish in which beetles may breed, while his neighbour has 
so neglected his trees that they become merely nests of bee- 
tles, it should be made compulsory on every cultivator of 
coco-nuts, to however small an extent, to destroy by fire all 
dead trees on his grounds ; nor should he be permitted even 
to utilize them as bridges or posts in the plantations. 
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, the Red Beetle—This 1s al- 
most more destructive than the preceding kind, and attacks 
the palms in quite a different method. It is here not the per- 
fect insect, but the grub that does the injuries. 
Like the black beetle, the red weevil is nocturnal im its 
habits, flying at night to deposit its eggs in the coco-nut trees. 
Possessed of a remarkably long ovipositor, it finds its way to 
the base of the leaf-stalk of the palm, and pushes the egg as 
deeply .into the body of the tree as it can. It frequently 
makes use of the hoies made by the elephant beetle, and can 
often be extracted thence by the beetle-spear. The egg on 
hatching produces a white footless grub, entirely different in 
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