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NUTMEGS AND MACE 
131 
This, of course, would prevent fertilisation, but it seems 
to be an infrequent occurrence. 
A leaf mining caterpillar has been met with both 
by myself and Dr. Oxley, who says that these insects 
rapidly spread and cause great havoc. 
Batocera Hector, Dej. — A large, brown longicorn 
beetle, not uncommon all over the Malay region, is 
accused by Dr. Koningsberger of attacking the nutmeg 
in Java. Its larva burrows beneath the bark and into 
the wood. It attacks a number of trees, such as 
Alhizzia moluccana and Erythrinas. The larva is 
about 4 in. long and rather flat. The perfect insect is 
3 in. long, with long antennae and a thorn on each side 
of the thorax. 
Lachnosterna sp. — A small brown chafer of the 
group of Lamellicorns, less than 1 in. long, of a deep 
chocolate-brown colour, quite smooth except the under 
parts, which are covered with a soft down, and its legs, 
which are hairy. The grub is a white larva with a 
brown head, about 1 in. long and of the usual form of 
the lamellicorn larvae. This chafer attacks the roots 
of many plants, the larva burrowing among them and 
eating them. It has been found attacking nutmegs in 
Penang. 
A sty elms chrysochloris, Wied. — A green weevil, 
about ^ in. long, covered with golden scales, which are 
easily rubbed off, has given some trouble in various 
parts of the Malay Peninsula by devouring the leaves of 
all manner of trees, including nutmegs. Mr. Wray has 
described it in Perak Museum Notes, vol. ii. 1, 1897. 
The egg is laid in the ground, and the grub, which 
apparently feeds on decaying vegetable matter till it 
grows to a length of f in., forms a chamber in the earth 
and pupates there, about 2 in. below the surface of 
the ground. It hatches out at night, and commences 
to devour the leaves of any tree it comes across. It 
lives for three months, eating voraciously the whole 
time, and does not leave a tree till it has eaten every 
leaf. It breeds a month after hatching, and lays its 
