7 



Numerous species of Xyleborus are known from the West Indies. Eichhoff, in 1867-68, described 

 X. capucinns, from Guadaloupe, X. afinis, from Cuba, X. aHernans, from St. Domingo, X. inermis,hom 

 Cuba, X. torquatus, from Cuba and Porto Rico, and X. amplicollis, from Porto Rico. 



Through the kindness of Dr. Plaxton, T have received three pieces of injured cane from Barbados, 

 together with numerous specimens of the Xyleborus in a bottle. The specimens ©f cane are fairly- 

 stout, juicy ai d well formed, and do not present the dried-up appearance of those attacked by the 

 Diatroea. Within, however, they are sour and rotten, and in many places, especially about the joints, 

 the little burrows of the Xyleborus, hardly 2 '.th inch in diameter, are to be seen. But in addition to 

 these, are large burrows, sorar> hulf-an-inch \vi le, tilled with cane splinters, and terminating exter- 

 nally in holes of considerable size. In one of these burrows I was so fortunate as to find a pupa, from 

 which the adult beetle had been nearly ready to emerge. Although not in good condition for examina- 

 tion, this is doubtless the well-known Borer- Weevil, Sphenopkorus sacchari (Guilding), which has been 

 known in the West Indies as injuring sugar-cane since the latter part of the last century. It is ex- 

 tremely similar to, and perhaps identical with Sphenophorus sericeus (Fabr.)*, which is common in Ja- 

 maica, and has been observed by Mr. Bowrey breeding in plantain and banana. A good account of 8. 

 sacchari, as occurring in Jamaica, was written by Mr. Samuel Kell King in 1845, and is quoted by 

 Gosse in his "Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica," p 451. 



In the Sandwich Islands the sugar-cane is attackel in a similar way by an allied species, S. 

 obscurus (Bdv.), of which a good account, with figures, is given in " Insect Life," 188S, pp. 185-189. 

 This insect is also found in Tahiti and New Ireland, and is supposed to have been introduced into the 

 Sandwich Is. It feeds on the banana as well as the sugar-cane. 



Mr. King in 1845 suggested that the Jamaican insect, was not indigenous, "but that it was im- 

 ported into Jamaica from Tahiii ; for it suddenly appeared in 1797, the year after the Tahitian varieties 

 of the cane were introduced into the island." In the face of this suggestion, and the fact of the Pacific 

 Islands species breeding both in sugar-cane and banana, one might readily suppose that the West 

 Indian S. sacchari and sericeus, and the Pacific obscurus were all one and the same species, which 

 originated in Tahiti, and should, according to priority, be knjwn by the name sericeus. This, however, 

 is rendered quite doubtful because the figure given of the Sandwich Is. beetle in " Insect Life," and 

 Mr. Schwarz's elaborate description, do not agree with Jamaican sp- "iimens of sericeus. Yet sericeus, as 

 shown by the short series in the Museum of the Jamaica Institute, is quite variable, and as the speci- 

 men described by Schwarz was probably immature, it is possible that the apparent differences may 

 prove not to have specific importance. 



Thus it appears that the sugar-cane pest now causing injury in Barbados is not the Xyleborus, 

 and not even the Diatroea, but the Sphenephorus, or weevil.f This is, of course, so far as one can tell 

 from the specimens received ; but it is likely enough that the Borer-moth also occurs in Barbados, and 

 is responsible for a part of the damage. It is clear, however, that the Xyleborus follows the depreda- 

 tions of the weevil, as well as those of those of the moth. 



In Jamaica, on the other hand, we are suffering from the Borer-moth, a decidedly more serious 

 peet than the weevil, which will require continuous attention if it is to be controlled. 



Bibliography 



(1.) 1725. Sir Hans Sloane. Jamaica, vol. tr. p. 220. 



(2.) 1793. J. C. Fabricius, Ent. Syat. in. ii. p. 338. 



(3.) 1806. W. Turton, Gen. Svst. Wat. vol m. p. 283. 



(4.) 1828. Rev. L. Guilding, trans. Soc. Arts, vol. xlvi. pp. 143-153. 



(5.) 1851. P. H Gosse, N*t. Soj. Jamaica, pp. 455-457. 



(6.) 1856. J. West wood, Gardener's Chronicle, p 453. 



(7.) 1857. J. B. Avequin, Journal de Pharmacie, vol. xxxn. pp. 335-337. 



(8.) 1872. P. C. Zeller, S. E. Z p. 465. 



(9.) 1879. E. A. Ormerod, Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond , xxxm — xxxvi. xxxvi — xl. 

 (10.) 1881. J. H. Comstock, Rept. U S. Dept. Agri. for 1880, pp. 240-245. PI. n. fig. 2. 

 (11.) 1883. Hawaiian Planter's Monthly, July, 1883. 

 (12.) 1885. H. Ling Roth, Sugar Cane, March and April. 

 (13.) 1885. A. Delteil, La Canne a sucre. 



(14.) 1887. W. H. Ashmead, Bull. 14. U. S. Dept. Agriculture, Div. of Entomology, p. 16. 

 (15.) 1888. Riley and Howard, Insect Life, vol. I. p. 185. 



(16.) 1889. W. J. Thompson, Louisiana Sugar Planter, Nov. 2 ; Insect Life, vol. II. pp. 389-390. 

 (17.) 1889. E. C. Cotes, Notes on Indian Insect Pests, Indian Museum Notes, part 3. See Insect 



Life, vol. ii p. 61. 

 (18.) 1889. T. D. A. Cockerell, Field and Farm (Denver), Oct. 26, p. 8. 



(19.) 1890. W. J. Morton, W. J. Thompson, and Riley and Howard. Insect Life, vol III. pp. 64-65. 

 (20.) 1890. Dr. W. Kruger, Berichte der Versuchstation fur Zuckerrohr in West Java. Heft i. 

 (21 ) lh91. L. O. Howard, Insect Life, vol. iv., pp. 95-103, with figs. 2. 3. 4. 

 (22.) 1891. H. A. Morgan, Bull. Louisiana State Exp. Station, 2nd Ser. No. 9. See Insect Life, 

 vol. in. p. 362. 



(23.) 1891. C. H. Tyler Townsend, Insect Life, vol. iv. pp. 24-25. 

 (24.) 1892. Geo. W. Smith, Barbados Agricultural Reporter, March 29. 



* Identified by Mr. .C. O. Waterhouse, and recorded in Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1878, p. 303. The species is there 

 referred to Fabricius, but on the label of a specimen, named at the British Museum, to Latreille. 



t It should be mentioned that damage to sugar-cane has also been caused in Barbados by a mite, Tanonymus ban- 

 crofti, Michael, according to a report published in " Kew Bulletin," April, 1890, p. 83. Another mite, of the genua 

 Damans, was also considered to be injurious. However, the injuries inflicted by mites do not resemble those of the 

 borers, and could not be confounded with them. The remedy used for the mites is immersion of the canes in warm 

 water and carbolic acid (1 lb. of acid to 50 gallons of water) for 24 hours, previous to planting. Lime has also been 

 found useful. 



