90 



summer on a twenty-five days' journey from San Francisco to Portugal, 

 and sbould certainly survive the trip from Sydney to Colombo in tbe 

 same way. 



THE SUaAR-CANE BORERS OF THE MASOARENE ISLANDS. 



M. Edmond Bordage, director of tbe museum of tbe island of Re- 

 union, lias recently published in tbe Revue Agricole, Saint-Denis, April, 

 1897, and in tbe Gomptes Rendus des Seances de TAcademie des 

 Sciences for December, 189?, important papers upon tbe sugar-cane 

 borers of Reunion and Mauritius. In bis last paper be shows that 

 Diatroea striatalis was introduced from Ceylon into Mauritius in 1848 in 

 cane imported by Sir William Gomm. The cane was known to be 

 infested and was destroyed shortly after being taken from tbe vessel, 

 but tbe insects escaped. In 1862 it was again imported in cane brought 

 in from Java. Sesamia nonagrioides var. albiciliata, a species which 

 lives ordinarily in young sugar cane and which occurs also in Algeria 

 in sorghum and in maize, was introduced into the Mascarenes at some 

 period between 1858 and 1861 from Java and was afterwards carried to 

 Madagascar. He shows that Guenee's Borer saccharellus is not tbe 

 Pyralis saccharalis of Fabricius, but must be considered as a synonym 

 of Proceras sacchariphagus Bojer. Diatrcea striatalis Snellen is another 

 synonym of the same insect. He further shows that Proceras sacchari- 

 phagus is an oriental species, being found in India, Ceylon, Java, 

 Sumatra, in the Mascarenes (Bourbon and Mauritius) and in Mada- 

 gascar; while Diatrcea saccharalis is a neotropical form occurring in 

 Guiana, tbe West Indies, and tropical America generally, having also 

 extended its range northward into the United States. 



NOTES ON TICKS. 



The following account of observations on the effects of the bite of 

 Omithodorus americana ? seems to me to throw some light on the con- 

 flicting statements regarding the bite of the reputed Argas persicus. 

 From the observations of my correspondent, Mr. R. A. Plaskett, who 

 resides in the Santa Lucia Mountains, in a district infested by this very 

 local Arachnid, it appears that horses, which are generally bitten just 

 above the hoof, seem not to suffer. The Argas drinks only from three 

 to five minutes and then drops without leaving a swelling. This is 

 unlike the habit of tbe Ixodes and Trombidium, which. will suck for a 

 day or two, frequently causing swelling and suppuration. Generally 

 these are supposed to be tbe effect of methods used to extract the 

 insect, but occasionally they occur after the insect has left of its own 

 free will, having satisfied its appetite. 



Another distinguishing characteristic in tbe habits of this insect is 

 its dislike of green vegetation. It is always found on the top of dry, 

 leafless twigs or in dust, never amidst foliage as are Trombidium and 

 Ixodes ; but this part of my friend's observations has to be taken cum 



