December, ’18] 
LITTLER: NOTES FROM TASMANIA 
473 
of the pupal stage has yet to be determined; it will doubtless be found to 
approximate that in other countries. The eggs appear to be always 
laid close to a bud or shoot. During last summer the writer was suc¬ 
cessful in discovering a parasite in the shape of an Ichneumon very 
close to the Tribe Rhyssides. The species is fairly plentiful so that 
there is a chance that it will keep the pest within bounds, especially 
as the former does not appear to suffer from any hyper-parasite. 
As the result of a series of investigations and experiments regarding 
certain phases of the life of the clearwing moth’s larvae, it was ascer¬ 
tained that they can and do work both up and down, or vice versa, in 
the tunnels made in the branches. The point of entrance is likewise 
that of exit. The larvae were found capable of crawling over them¬ 
selves, so to speak, in their narrow tunnels when wishful of changing 
the direction of burrowing. Whether a larva first commenced feeding 
down or up was found to be a mere matter of chance. Evidences were 
discovered of grubs feeding downwards until they came to an obstruc¬ 
tion, then having slightly enlarged the feeding cavity, turned round 
(end for end, in common parlance) and fed upwards beyond the point 
of entrance, until a similar obstruction in the shape of woody pith had 
been met with. The enlarging and turning movements were then re¬ 
peated and the larvae found headed downwards and near the point 
where the exit would take place. 
No official action has been taken by the Tasmanian Agricultural 
Department against the pest, but there is a likelihood of such being 
the case, if a general pests act now under consideration comes into 
force. The writer has recommended through the Press, the destruc¬ 
tion of all badly affected currant bushes, vigorous pruning of bushes 
during the winter in affected plantations and destruction by fire of the 
parts cut away, care in selecting cuttings for striking, and the spraying 
of the bushes, immediately after the fruit has been picked, with ar¬ 
senate of lead. These suggestions have been carried out by a num¬ 
ber of growers with satisfactory results. 
Rutherglen Fruit-Bug. The summer of 1916-17 was remarkable 
for the quantity of rain that fell intermittently all through. As a 
natural sequence there was a superabundance of plant growth, noxious 
and otherwise. The result was that pests of several kinds were more 
plentiful than in normal years. This was markedly so with regard 
to the Hemipterous bug, Nysius vinitor. The insect is indigenous to 
this State, and although it has been known to the writer to be yearly 
increasing in abundance, yet no complaints had been made by farmers 
or horticulturists with reference to damage committed. The Launces¬ 
ton Marine Board had an area of reclaimed land, adjoining one of the 
parks, on which a most luxuriant growth of all manner of noxious 
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