28 



and others, both against this species and related ones. The traps he 

 uses are mostly what is termed the cabbage portion of the palm while 

 it is fermenting. When fresh cut, the "cabbage" will attract the 

 weevils somewhat, but when it reaches the vinous stage it emits a 

 powerful odor, which the insects can detect from a great distance. 

 The}' soar about for a while, then alight and proceed to work. After 

 feeding for some time, they look about in search of a "nice heap of 

 rubbish to hide and sleep in, but if no suitable place is close, they fly 

 away. The idea of a handful or two of rubbish catching them took 

 me live years to find out,' 1 says Mr. Seay. "I kept trying everything 

 I could think of to hold them, but as soon as the vinegar fermentation 

 sets in, the weevils stop coming and the yellow bugs [ambrosia bee- 

 tles] come; also several kinds of flies." When the putrid stage arrives, 

 Mr. Seay destroys his traps. The "salt-water pimento" is the palm 

 most used, and one or two cuts of a machete an inch or an inch and a 

 half above the "cabbage" takes off the top, and with the point of the 

 machete a hole is opened into the "cabbage," breaking it a little. 

 Then the trap is set. The odor arising from these bruises attracts 

 the insect in the vicinity, and the weevils enter the holes and also 

 stow themselves in the leaf -stalks. In the afternoon of the following 

 da} T until 2 or 3 o'clock our correspondent states that he frequently 

 obtains half a dozen or more in such a trap. The trap lasts a week 

 or two. When the trap has been thus used, it is cut off below the 

 "cabbage," and the scraps are burned or thrown into the sea. 



There seems little doubt that all of the flying species of insects — 

 the weevil, the Histerid, and the two-winged flies — whose larvre were 

 received are instrumental in spreading the disease or so-called fever 

 which attacks palms grown both in British Honduras and in the West 

 Indies. Mr. Seaj is unfortunate in having neighbors who also grow 

 palms and who do not take the pains to employ remedies against the 

 weevils. He states that 3 or 4 miles is no distance for the insects to 

 fly in search of a sickly tree or one that is beginning to bear fruit, 

 because then the bark is soft and the sun will make cracks and the 

 sap oozes out in quantities, which is liked by all of these pests. 



NOTES ON THE RHINOCEROS BEETLE. 



(Dynatfes tityus Linn.) 

 By F. H. Chittenden. 



Few insects attract greater attention when they occur in any num- 

 bers than the giant Scaraba3id known as the rhinoceros beetle, Dynastes 

 tityus Linn., sometimes called the spotted hornbug. In former } T ears 

 it was tolerably abundant in the vicinity of the District of Columbia, 

 and is still to be found quite frequently in neighboring portions of 



