92 



that he had seen several of these corks iu which the wax had been 

 bored through by the exit-holes of a coleopterous insect. Thus in some 

 cases the eggs may be deposited in the cork before it is used for the 

 bottles and escape unhurt the processes of manufacture and corkage. 

 To escape this the bark is to be disinfected after gathering. Tinea 

 cloacella, Endrosis, lacteella, Asopia farinalis, and Oniscus miirarius (a 

 Wood-louse) were also mentioned as cork eaters. The last named at- 

 tacks them probably only after they have first been attacked by insects. 

 The idea of substituting rubber corks for bark ones was brought up but 

 not favored, because the rubber would be apt to spoil the flavor of the 

 wine. 



LOCUSTS IN ALGERIA. 



According to the Revue Rorticole for July, 1888, the locusts are doing 

 their principal damage in Algeria the present year in the province of 

 Gonstantine. It is too early to estimate the extent of the injury, but 

 it is said to be immense. The Government has appropriated the sum 

 of 500,OUO fraucs, i^riucipally as a bounty, to the most meritorious farm- 

 ers. Editorially the journal goes on to say : ''This is very good, but 

 what will be equally useful is the appointing of a commission composed 

 of distinguished entomologists and agriculturists who will study this 

 scourge from its origin and will seek the means, if such exist, of pre- 

 venting the return of these invasions." 



ENEMIES OF ICERYA IN NEW ZEALAND. 



In the July, 1888, number of the New Zealand Farmer a corre- 

 spondent writes that he has been investigating the condition of leery a 

 purchasi in that country, and states that there is a very general im- 

 pression in most districts that it has received a check from some cause 

 not yet apparent, as the information iu regard to what cause or causes 

 can not be wholly relied upon. Another correspondent writes in the 

 same number that he finds birds destroying this pest, gold-finches 

 feeding constantly upon it, and paroquets being also known to eat it. 

 In the June, 1888, number the New Zealand cuckoo is sui)posed to 

 have destroyed large numbers of the scale. Yast numbers of the 

 females on an acacia-hedge in Wairoa South were found destroyed by 

 some natural enemy ; the ova-sacs torn oj)en, eggs gone, shreds of the 

 cotton lying about on the ground and no larvae to be seen, everything 

 pointing to a bird as having been the benefactor. The evidence seemed 

 to be in favor of the cuckoo just mentioned. This bird is said to be a 

 visitor in New Zealand at certain seasons onlv, and is found in mauv 

 warmer lands with a climate like that of southern Calilbrnia — in Aus- 

 tralia, Tasmania, Java, and Sumatra. This matter is worth attention. 

 Bird enemies, as well as insect enemies, should be considered when the 

 (luestion of introducing Icerya-destroyers into California is brought 

 under investigation. 



O 



