356 



state. We believe that this is the first record of a nocturnal flight of this 

 insect. The nearest locust tree is some fifty feet from the window. — 

 [L. O. H. 



A BANANA BORER IN TRINIDAD. 



We notice an interesting article in the Journal of the Trinidad Field 

 Naturalists' Club for February, 1893, by Mr. Thomas I. Potter, who 

 has discovered that the larva of Castnia licus does serious damage to 

 the Banana plant in Trinidad by entering at the base of the sucker and 

 almost on a level with the soil an.d boring upwards almost into the heart 

 of the plant. The larva is three inches long when full-grown, with 

 light brown head, darker mandibles, and whitish body. Nothing can 

 save the plant, according to Mr. Potter, when it has been affected for 

 some time. The eggs are laid singly inside the dry and withered stalk 

 at the base of the sucker. The insect is known locally as the ^^ cane 

 sucker." The species is not known as a pest in Florida, but with the 

 extension of banana growing may make itself known. 



THE SUPPOSED SPREAD OF THE GYPSY MOTH. 



The director of the field work of the Gypsy Moth commission, Mr. E. 

 H. Forbush, has recently written a letter for publication in the agricul- 

 tural journals of New England, in which the statement is made that, 

 notwithstanding all the statements to the contrary (and we have no- 

 ticed one or two of them in Insect Life), the Gypsy Moth has not 

 been seen outside the region where it was found in 1891. During 

 December last Mr. Forbush had an average of nearlj^ thirty men at 

 work searching for the eggs. 



SOUTHERN RANGE OF THE COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 



The Colorado Potato-beetle, as we have already noticed, has made its 

 appearance in the northern part of Alabama in alarming numbers. 

 While it maybe that this is but a repetition of the occasional accidental 

 introduction of this pest, which has frequently occurred of late years, 

 and while it may die out after a season or two, the Department of Agri- 

 culture of Alabama has taken a very proper step in issuing a little bul- 

 letin entitled "Mode of destroying the Colorado Potato-beetle and Har- 

 lequin Cabbage-bug," which was published during April. 



THE SPOTTED BEAN BEETLE. 



^pilachna corrtipta, a near relative of the so-called Pumpkin Beetle 

 of the east, does a good deal of damage to the bean crop in the south- 

 west. We have previously referred to this insect and its damage to the 

 bean crop in New Mexico on the authority of our old correspondent. 

 Judge J. F. Wielandy, and now notice a rather extended article in The 

 Prairie Farmer , with a large illustration showing the different stages 



