Reports to the Board of Agriculture . 183 
Beetle Larvae damaging Horse Chestnuts. — Information was 
sent the Board that beetles were damaging the shoots of horse- 
chestnuts in Surrey in the same way that the Pine Beetle does 
the pine. 
It was not possible to say what beetle had done the damage ; the 
piece of damaged shoot was not sufficient to identify the culprit by, 
as no beetle is known to work in the way shown in the specimen. 
Giant Wood Wasp (Sir ex gig as). — Mr. Jonathan Davies, of Bryn 
Eirian, Portmadoc, North Wales, forwarded an insect from Wales, the 
common Giant Wood Wasp or Sirex (Sir ex gigas ). 
The larvae of this insect and the allied species — the Steel Blue 
Sirex (S. juvencus ) — are very harmful to pines and almost all 
conifers in many quarters, but damage has not been reported from 
North Wales. 
Larch Aphis (Chermes laricis). — Specimens of diseased Larch were 
sent by a correspondent from Harlestone, Northampton, covered with 
Larch Aphis (Chermes laricis). 
Judging from the amount of Aphis debris on not only the 
remaining needles, but also on the stems, I should say the cause of 
disease was the presence of this pest ; in any case, I have seen trees, 
no worse affected, looking as if burnt owing to this Chermes. 
The specimens were sent to Kew to see if any fungoid disease was 
also present, and none was found. 
A full account of the life-history of the Larch Aphis is given on 
page 86. 
Damage to Indian Corn by Weevils in British East Africa. 
— Information was sought by the Foreign Office regarding the treat- 
ment of East African corn to clear it of Weevil damage. 
The information sent was too meagre to enable advice to be given. 
The following communication was thus sent to the Board : — 
“ It would be advisable to obtain some definite information 
regarding this Weevil damage to Indian corn in East Africa. 
“ Does it attack the standing corn, or only when harvested ? 
“ Is this pest the usual Corn Weevil (Calandra sp.) ? 
“ If either Calandra oryzae or C. granaria, then some plan could 
be advised at once to remedy the evil. 
“ Bisulphide of carbon for large masses in bulk would probably 
be too costly. But until more definite information is given by the 
Foreign Office nothing can be advised.” 
