December, ’18] 
LITTLER: NOTES FROM TASMANIA 
475 
should be made before the closing of the calyx lobes or not. Both 
sides have their advocates who can produce figures from their own 
orchards to prove or disprove one theory or the other. For some years 
past the writer has been collecting data from his own personal exami¬ 
nation of apples and pears from several orchards concerning where 
the young larvae enter. The averages deducted from some thousands 
of fruit examined show that 46 per cent were struck through the eye, 
35 per cent at the base of the stalk, while for 19 per cent the mode of 
entry was through the side. In every instance the individual fruit 
was cut open in order to avoid any confusion between the entrance 
hole and that of exit. To my mind the above figures prove that the 
first spraying should take place prior to the closing of the calyx lobes, 
but that it should be followed by a second and a third application in 
order to render the fruit immune from the later hatching larvae. 
The Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia) although causing a 
good deal of damage in flower gardens, and a certain amount in kitchen 
gardens, is capable of performing very meritorious work in the way 
of destroying codling moth larvae under bandages. I have seen every 
larva that had gone to change into the pupal stage in a badly infested 
orchard eaten out. Nevertheless orchardists do not feel justified, and 
rightly so, in allowing earwigs to flourish. 
Harlequin Fruit-Bug. In common with other Hemipterous in¬ 
sects the soldier bug or Harlequin fruit-bug (Dindymus versicolor) 
was excessively plentiful during the summer of 1916-17. The princi¬ 
pal damage done by this pest is causing the berries of red, white, 
and black currants to fall before they are ripe. The fruit is punctured 
just at the bases of the stalks. Some of the softer varieties of apples 
are also treated in the same manner, causing disfiguring blemishes. 
During the period under review they turned their attentions to sun¬ 
flower, and artichoke stems, after all the soft fruits were picked. In 
many instances the stems were so severely punctured that from the 
ground to the flower heads they were almost completely covered with 
knobby excrescences. Neither the sunflower heads, nor the artichoke 
tubers were in any way affected. All melliferous flowers were con¬ 
tinually covered with the insects in all stages of growth. Paling 
fences were favourite gathering places for the insects, clusters of many 
hundreds being a common sight. Boiling water was usually most 
effective in dealing with such swarms. Those on plants and flowers 
were dealt with by jarring into hot water, or water on which a film 
of oil had been spread. The swarming thousands of these brightly 
colored insects was a constant matter of comment, even by persons 
Who usually are unobservant of insect life. 
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