21 



interfere with the tapping cut, but they arc easily knocked out 

 if so, and if left arc usually covered up eventually by the later 

 growth of the trunk and so disappear. — Editor. 



Astychus Chrysochloris attacking Para Rubber. 



The following- letter from Mr. R. PEARS was accompanied by a 

 number of specimens of the pestilential beetle Astychus chryso- 

 chloris. The life history of this insect was described by Mr. L. 

 WRAY in Perak Museum, Notes II, I, 1807 (under the name of 

 A. lateralis), a very inaccessible publication, and a short resume 

 was published in the Bulletin, First Series p. 270. The beetle eats 

 leaves of almost any plant, and occasionally appears in large num- 

 bers, though by no means always to be found. The grubs appear 

 to live in the soil and feed on decaying vegetable matter, and as 

 there is consequently an unlimited supply of food both for larva 

 and adult it is only remarkable that it is not more abundant and 

 destructive. The most curious thing about them is that the grubs 

 appear to prefer clean weeded land, of loose texture and disappear 

 when the ground is turfed or weedy, which is another argument 

 against excessive weeding of estates. Hand picking seems to be 

 the only remedy likely to be effectual, and this is easy enough as 

 the beetles are very slow in their movements. The animal is thus 

 fairly easy to deal with if it confines its attacks to young Para 

 rubber trees but would be very difficult to get at in full grown trees. 

 Flooding the ground to kill the grubs would doubtless also prove 

 effective and would not injure the rubber trees. 



Mr. Pears description of the beetle gives a fairly good idea o[ 

 it for it is unmistakeable from its green colour and golden scales 

 easily rubbed off. Both sexes however, are alike, they are how- 

 ever, hatched out without the scales,, and nearly black in colour, 

 soon putting on the .golden green colour, and perhaps the dark 

 females seen by Mr. PEARS were either young ones or old ones 

 with the scales rubbed off. — FMitor. 



Lanadrox Estate, 



Muar, via Singapore, 



Straits Settlements, 

 21st Xoi'., /yuj. 



Dear Mr. PlDLEY, 



I am sending you under separate cover some specimens of a 

 beetle which I found vigorously devouring the leaves of some Para 

 Rubber trees of about a year old. Hoth male and female are in- 

 cluded amongst the specimens, the former being of a yellow, 

 whilst the latter is of a greyish black colour. This yellowness on 

 the back of the male seems to be analogous to the "feathers" on a 

 butterfly's wing, for it is easily rubbed off with the lingers, leaving 

 the male almost, il" not quite identical in colour with the female^ | 



