Part III.] Osmaston ; Pterocarpus dajbergioides. Andaman Padouk. 243 
by two or more new shoots, which are in their turn subjected to the same 
treatment. 
The result is, as might be expected, a more or less stunted bush 
with no well defined leader, somewhat resembling a tea bush, the pluck- 
ing in the case of the Padouk having been effected by the weevil. 
In the cold weather or dry months the weevils are not much in evidence 
and, as there is no period of rest in the growth of the Padouk, the majority 
of the seedlings or saplings succeed in putting out a shoot several feet 
in length before the rains, when the pest again comes into prominence. 
A certain number of the seedlings, however, probably the less vigorous 
or those which have suffered excessively from insect pruning, appear un- 
able to make this effort, and they remain stunted and ultimately succumb. 
.4fter the plants have reached their fourth year and are about 15 feet in 
height they appear to suffer much less from the weevil and it seems prob- 
able that as they grow older they will be less and less liable to this 
form of damage. 
Unfortunately the oldest Padouk Taungya only dates back to 1903, 
but judging from the few regular plantations of older date young Padouk 
poles seem to be immune from such insect attacks. Scarcely anything 
is known at present of the life history of the Padouk weevil. So far it 
has been impossible to ascertain where the eggs are laid and the larvae 
are not known. 
The mature insect probes the tender shoots with its proboscis and 
drinks the exuding juice, but the object of ringing these same shoots 
is not known. It does not, however, appear to be connected in any way 
with the reproduction of the insect. 
No means have as yet been devised for combating the attacks of this 
weevil, but possibly something may be done when more is known about 
its life history. 
9. A Boring Beetle. — Padouk logs are usually stored in wet depots 
(fenced enclosures of the sea). They may be safely kept in this way 
for a few months, but, if subjected to prolonged immersion, they are 
ruined by the marine worm {Teredo navalis). To avoid this an experi- 
ment was recently made in the dry storage of logs, which has, 
however, proved imsuccessful, the logs having been attacked by a 
small beetle belonging to the family ScolijtidcB and genus Xyleborus 
or closely allied genus, which tunnels through the sapwood, pene- 
trating more or less into the heart wood. The damage done by the 
borings of this insect is not really very serious as the tunnels do 
