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more  again  in  the  rotten  head  stumps  and  roots  of  sago  and  ser- 
dang  palms,  and  most  numerous  in  a coconut  tree  from  which  the 
top  has  fallen  away  through  their  ravages  or  a decayed  stump  of 
the  same  tree.  Here  the  grub  will  be  found  covered  in  a cocoon 
made  of  the  fibre  and  so  well  does  it  conceal  itself  in  this  way 
that  it  is  practically  not  noticeable  to  the  ordinary  view  and  is 
only  discovered  when  the  inside  of  the  tree  or  stump  is  scooped 
out  which  1 need  scarcely  say  must  be  done  very  effectually  other- 
wise one  or  two  of  the  cocoons  may  escape  observation. 
Black  Beetles. — It  is  on  account  of  their  great  numbers  that  these 
beetles  are  so  much  to  be  feared,  and  their  borings,  as  I have  stated 
previously,  afford  a means  for  intoad  by  the  dangerous  red  beetle. 
There  absolutely  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  beetles  and  their  grubs 
provided  the  breeding  places  are  sufficiently  abundant  and  these  com- 
prise not  onl\^  those  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  red  beetle  but 
a great  many  more,  such  as,  underneath  and  in  dead  palms  of  several 
kinds,  sawdust,  paddystraw,  coconut,  coffee  and  padd)^  husks  and 
refuse  heaps  of  all  descriptions.  The  grubs  especially  can  simply  be 
found  in  thou.sands  in  quite  a small  dung  heap.  WTen  the  beetles 
reach  maturity'  they  leave  their  breeding  grounds  and  it  is  then  the>' 
make  for  the  coconut  trees  and  commence  thair  ravages  slightly 
above  and  near  the  top  of  the  cabbage  boring  their  way  downwards 
and  lay  their  eggs  at  the  end  of  the  cavities  so  formed.  Owing  to 
their  constant  and  continual  onslaughts  they  do  great  damage  to  the 
trees,  nipping  as  it  were  the  leaves  and  the  stem  that  bears  the  fruit 
just  at  the  time  the}’  are  forming:  the  leaves  in  con.sequence  after- 
wards present  a jagged  or  frayed  appearance  and  what  is  more 
.serious  the  .stem  often  is  killed,  and  if  it  docs  .shoot  out  probabl}’ 
bears  little  or  no  fruit.  'Fhere  is  difficulty  in  a.scertainingh  ow  far  the 
beetle  can  travel  in  one  stage  of  its  journeyings  which  it 'makes  at 
night,  but  I .shoukl  sa\^  no  great  di.stance  and  about  a mile  would,  I 
think,  be  an  extreme  limit.  However  it  manages  to  fly  to  plantations 
considerable  distances  away  from  one  another  and  this  may  be  ac- 
counted for  by  its  finding  .several  breeding  haunts  intervening  to  avail 
of  during  its  flight. 
Destruction . d he  only  wa>’  to  exterminate  and  get  rid  of  these 
pests  is  to  diligently  .search  out  and  thoroughly  destroy  all  the  breed- 
ing  grounds  already  de.scribed  and  everything  that  is  likely  to  harbour 
them  mu.st  be  burnt.  Some  advantage  is  to  be  gained  from  this 
burning,  for  provided  the  heaps  are  not  placed  too  clo.se  to  the  trees 
.so  as  to  harm  them,  the  smoke  most  undoubtcdl}^  docs  good  as  it 
tends  to  form  and  harden  the  fruit  on  the  .stem  producing  heavier 
crops.  Attention  must  akso  be  given  to  the  trees  themselves  which 
should  be  .searched  fXiriodically  and  all  the  beetles  extracted.  For 
this  purpose  a .stiff  bit  of  wire  about  i8  inches  long  with  a barb  at 
the  end  is  usually  used  and  in  addition  to  this  after  the  beetle  has 
been  extracted  it  will  be  found  efficacious  to  put  a few  drops  of 
“ Zotal’’  into  the  cavity  and  al.so,  by  means  of  a small  brush,  smear 
over  the  entrance  to  the  hole  with  the  .same  composition.  I'his  pre- 
paration if  applied  in  the  wa)'  I have  indicated  will  not  harm  the  tree, 
on  the  other  hand  experiments  have  .shewn  that  it  gives  a decided 
