668 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 17 
Notes on the Feeding Habits of the Tarantula. Last July a local groceryman 
called up the laboratory stating that a tarantula had escaped from a bunch of ba¬ 
nanas, so we went immediately and secured it. It was placed in a large glass jar with a 
cloth cover over the opening. From July 9th to August 4th it ate 10 large cock¬ 
roaches, by actual count, and may have eaten several smaller ones. On several 
occasions it pounced upon the cockroaches just as soon as they were placed in the jar. 
One cockroach was apparently caught before it had time to reach the bottom. The 
tarantula is remarkably quick in its movements. 
For several days prior to August 20th, it had not eaten anything and it moulted 
some time during the night of August 20th. Although cockroaches were placed in the 
jar at more or less irregular intervals subsequently to moulting, the notes do not indi¬ 
cate that any were eaten after this date. In all probability it was neglected and died 
about September 15th. No other insects were given to it during captivity. 
W. W. Yothers, U. S. Bureau of Entomology 
Another Mango Pest in the Philippines. In addition to the mango pests referred to 
in my previous note I have recently noted that the larvae of Parasa lorquini Reakirt,— 
so identified by Mr. W. Schultz, entomologist, Bureau of Science,—feed on the 
leaves of the mango. The larvae had devoured approximately 30 per cent of the 
leaves of a small mango tree about 2.5 meters high. It is the first time that I have 
seen this insect attack the mango during more than 13 years residence in the Philip¬ 
pines, so that it is probably of little importance as a mango pest in this country. 
This is probably due to internal parasites as many of the larvae were parasitized. 
A related species, Parasa lipida, feeds on the leaves of the mango in India where it is 
said “to be a constant danger to young grafts and seedlings which they often com¬ 
pletely defoliate.” As a pest on the old mango trees they are said to be unimportant. 
P. J. Wester 
Calcium Cyanide Dust for Control of the Grape Leaf Hopper. Calcium 
Cyanide dust was used in an experimental way against the Grape Leaf Hopper, 
Typhlocyba comes Say, by this Station in 1923 and again in 1924. From the previous 
work on this insect it appeared to the writer that if some effective method could be 
used against the over-wintering adult hoppers soon after they came onto the vine in 
the spring, that it would be the most desirable way to control the hoppers, but the 
adults showed great resistance to sprays or dusts heretofore used. The adult hoppers, 
on the other hand, proved to be susceptible to HCN gas. When the Calcium 
Cyanide dust is blown into the vine the hoppers are quickly overcome and fall to 
the ground. If there are no Cyanide particles on the ground the hoppers overcome 
by the gas will recover, but if there is a slight deposit of the cyanide on the ground 
sufficient gas will be given off to prevent the recovery. 
On short pruned vines the method has been to use a knapsack duster by means of 
which the dust is; shot into the vines from below and the heavier particles drop to the 
ground. Since the shoots of the vine at this season are only six to ten inches long, 
there is not much foliage to cover and a small amount of dust will do the work. Later 
in the season, when the second generation hoppers occur, Cyanide dust will also 
kill them, although a much greater quantity must be used. It is proposed to carry 
on work on a larger scale during the coming year, when more definite data will be 
secured as to the feasibility of controlling the Grape Leaf Hopper by Calcium Cyanide 
dust. H. J. Quayle, Citrus Experiment Station, Riverside, California 
