C JK* 
' 
^ , v STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 
Paper to be laid before the Legislative Council by Command 
of His Excellency the Governor. 
General Hospital,, 
Singapore , May 23 rd, i 88 p 
Sir, — The beetles which are destructive to cocoa-nut trees in Singapore are of 
two species, as Mr. Me RE WETHER has stated in his Report, named respectively Oryctes 
nasicornis, and Calandra palmarum, and they commit their ravages in totally distinct 
ways. 
I. Oryctes nasicornis .—This is the common elephant, or more appropriately 
rhinoceros beetle, a large black or dark brown insect with a long curved horn on its 
head, this appendage being much more developed in the male than in the female. 
The mischief done to cocoa-nut trees by this species is done by the adult insect, 
which feeds on the soft woody fibre in the crown of the tree. The beetle bores its 
way into the head of the tree, commencing generally partly under cover of the sheath 
of one of the leaves, and gradually eats its way into the centre of the heart, taking 
about four or five or more days in the process, and dividing as it goes any folded leaf or 
fruit-stalk which may lie in its way. When it has reached the centre of the heart, it 
bores no further, eats out as much as it wants, and comes out again. This beetle does 
not at once kill the tree, but it is very likely that trees severely attacked by several 
beetles may become weak, and die gradually. 
1 he results ol the ravages of this beetle are seen in deformity of the heads of 
trees, consequent on the cutting through of the young folded leaves. The centre 
shoot of the tree if cut through drops off, and leaves that have been cut through, 
when they unfold and grow, instead of presenting the normal appearance of a feather, 
are stunted and look like the ribs of a fan, or a quill-pen that has been cut across 
through the feather to the midrib. Fruit-stalks may also be cut through In the course 
of this beetle’s boring to the centre of the tree, and the tree may be thus damaged in 
its fruit-bearing capabilities. 
This beetle, I believe, invariably commences its boring in the night. 
The place where one of these beetles has entered a tree may be known by the 
projection from its hole of entry of a lump of moist brown fibre, which the beetle throws 
out behind it as it bores its way. , d his is easy to see in a young tree, but not so easy 
when tlie tree becomes tall. If immediately on the appearance of one of these lumps 
ol fibre the beetle is extracted, it will not have had time to clo any real damage', but if 
the lump of fibre be unnoticed, the next sign of the presence of the beetle is, as Mr. 
Crane states in his Report, the falling of the centre shoot of the tree, which has been 
cut through, 
o 
1 his beetle is very active towards the end of the year, in October and November. 
1 believe it is also active in the early Spring months. It lays its eggs, and the grubs 
are hatched in decaying stumps of cocoa-nut trees! and in otlier places as described in 
the various Reports, f have only seen the grubs myself in rotten cocoa-nut stumps. 
1 he grubs are hatched certainly about November, but perhaps also at other times. 
II. I he Calandra palmarum .—This is a beetle of a totally different kind, ft 
belongs to the Curculionidas or Weevils. It Isa beetle-of a black colour, with an 
orange spot on its back, or is sometimes almost entirely' of a dark orange colour. It 
has no boring apparatus, but a hard proboscis, about half an inch long, the whole length 
of the beetle, including proboscis, being about 2 to 2 ^ inches. 
I his beetle does not Itself do any damage to the trees, the damage is done by its 
larva or grub. I he beetle lays its eggs somewhere on the cocoa-nut tree, I have not 
been able to find out where, but I think either near the ground or in the neighbour¬ 
hood of the head ol the tree. As soon as an egg is hatched, the grub, which is armed 
with strong boring jaws, bores its way into the tree, and, eating as it goes, and gradu<- 
