90 



Here I met with the only trace of applied economic entomology that 

 I found on the island; it was directed against the very abundant and 

 very destructive "sbanga," a mole cricket, GryllotaJpa hexadactyla 

 (named for me by Dr. Stahl in Bayamon, who told me that it is a com- 

 paratively new insect in Puerto Eico, having been introduced within 

 his recollection). This insect is one of the first which draws the atten- 

 tion of an entomologist, first, on account of its size and abundance, and 

 because it flies to light, and becomes a nuisance in houses, second, 

 because it seems to be the only insect known to be injurious, in the 

 minds of most people in Puerto Eico. When asked abuut "insectos," 

 they may mention "Mariposas" and "esperanza," but first and last u el 

 changa,"' which is invariably pronoui ced -'mucho malo" (colloquial for 

 muy malo, very bad). The protection against this insect consists in the 

 use of the large, smooth leaves of " mammee" (M. americanaf), which are 

 placed one around each plant edgewise, like a cylinder, down about an 

 inch in the ground. I have seen thousands of young plants of tobacco 

 or vegetables thus protected, the leaves being placed around the plants 

 when they are set out in the field from the seed bed. It is a tedious 

 way, but seems to give good results, probably merely as a mechanical 

 fence, which the mole cricket does not dig under or through; in which 

 case cheap tin cylinders 5 inches high and 3.} inches in diameter, made 

 wholesale, would be a practical substitute; it is possible, though, that 

 the mammee leaves may be disagreeable to the insects. 



Among the insects injurious to small vegetables Spartocera fusca was 

 especially abundant and noxious, sucking the stems of u Malanga ,? and 

 ''Yauchia.*' 



Of shade tree enemies the showy larva of Pseudosphinx tetrio was 

 found in all stages, during my visit, on the ornamental " Alelia 7 ' [Plnmi- 

 eria rubra). 



One striking feature in the insect fauna is the abundance of honey 

 bees and no beehives; at least I neither saw nor heard of any, and they 

 must be a rarity. Still the honey harvest is quite important, although 

 the figures given in the last Estadistica General del Comercio Exte- 

 rior, of Puerto Eico ($517,746), of the exportation thereof surely must 

 be wrong, unless they possibly include molasses. Very large colonies 

 of a dark variety of Avis mellifica were abundant in hollow trees and 

 especially in caves, sometimes also in outhouses. These are annually 

 smoked out and furnish large quantities of honey. 



I was in all fifty days on the island, several of which were neces- 

 sarily lost in traveling about in order to keep connection with the 

 steamer. Naturally such a short trip in the dry (winter) season, when 

 the real characteristic fauna is dormant, and handicapped by the limited 

 knowledge of the language, customs, roads, and way of traveling, could 

 only result in a mere skimming of information concerning the fauna of 

 the island. 



An expedition undertaken in the summer season and with more time, 

 so as to give opportunity for breeding insects, would be very interesting 



