«0m m nm 
o< MONTHLY. \» 
Vol. XIV.] 
COLOMBO, JANUARY ist, 1895. 
[No. 7. 
AN IMPORTANT INSECT ENEMY : 
AND THE NEED FOR PLANTERS TO GUARD AGATNST ITS SPREAD. 
By E.E. Gkeen, Eton, Pundaluoya. 
N Dr. Tiimea's Annual Report on 
the Botanical Gardens for 1893, 
mention w as m de of the oc- 
curence in the Peradeniya 
Gardens of a serious insec'-p st 
which was most destructive to 
the ornamental shrubs there. As this pest has bsen 
increasing very rapidly and has already spread beyond 
the limits of the Gardens, it is important that genera! 
attention should be drawn to it. 
Within the Peradeniya Gardens eff^ts are being 
made to k ep it in check; but it has appsared on 
lantana in the neighbourhood, and there is no knowing 
where it will stop. It has fortuuately as yet shown 
no taste for either of our two most important products 
tea and cacao. Coffee, however, does not share this — 
immunity, for trees of Liberiau coffee have been 
observed to be infested with the insert, and 
we have no reason to supposo that the Arabian species 
will bo loss liable to attack. 
Dr. Trimeu is of opinion tnat this n mi inly a 
g.irdon post, and does not expect that it will spread 
to ostates. It is to be hoped that this prediction 
Will prove correct ; but it would be unwise to ignore 
the fact that, if unchecked, the pest might spread 
enormously and might possibly develop a tasto for 
othor plants; as was the caso with tho "Fluted 
Scalo" (Jcerj/a purchasi) which, at first practically 
confined to asaeia and. prau^o trees, finally became 
aim st omnivorous. " Forewarned is forearmed "; and, 
though it wou'd be most imprudent to create a scare, 
it is still most advisable to point out a possible 
danger. 
As mentioned above, the insect ha? obtained a 
foothold upon lantaua. Should it once become widely 
and firmly estiblished, it will be extremely difficult 
to deal with, and wherever lantana flourishes there 
will bo a stronghold of tho pest. Though most 
accommodating in its tastes this bug at present shows 
a preference for plants belonging to the Latural 
orders AcantraceES, Rubiacea? (which includes coffee 
and cinchona), and Verbenaceffl (of which lantana 
is a member). To the firs oft these orders belong 
our numerous species of " Nelu " (Strohilanihes) which 
might form another possible breeding-ground as 
extensive and even more impregnable than the lan- 
tana scrub. 
The insect is known to Entomologists by the llama 
of Orthcrua iiisiynix, Douglis, being first described 
by Mr. J. W. Douglas from Specimens found in 
Kew Gardens, where it is now said to be doing an 
enormous amount of damage in the plant-houses. 
It has more recently boou figured and described by 
Mr. Buckton under tho name of Qfthezia nacreq, 
( 'Indian Museum Notes," Vol. III., No. 3, p. 103). 
The specimens submitted to Mr. Buckton were un- 
fortu-ately damaged in transit; his figures are 
consequently not very satisfactory. Comparison with 
specimens from Kew proves the two insects to be 
<l'L'i'iiic:illy identical. 
Originating as it does in the Peradeniya Uotanical 
Gardens, thero is litt'e doubt but that we owe the 
introluotion of this pest to plants received from Kew. 
Its native couutrv has not Veen determined. 
