February, ’20] 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES 
149 
one side of the lane appeared blotched and yellow. A closer examination showed 
that there were numerous adult specimens of A. tristis DeG. as well as various other 
stages of this insect. On many leaves there were from five to ten specimens. There 
were five nymphs feeding on a single fig. 
From the above observation I concluded that this was a real infestation of fig trees 
by A. tristis DeG., because there were no cucurbit vines within one hundred yards. 
O. W. Rosewall, 
Louisiana State University. 
To Keep Out Cane Butterfly. Because of the financial loss suffered by sugar cen¬ 
trals in Porto Rico from the rapid spread of the cane mosaic (yellow stripe) disease, 
strong efforts have been made by them to secure permission to introduce seed cane 
from Santo Domingo, with the hope to overcome the disease. Such a course would 
result in grave danger of introduction of the Santo Domingo cane butterfly, Calisto 
archebates Men., a pest whose larvse literally strip the leaves from hundreds of acres 
of sugar cane in that island during the winter months. The introduction of this pest 
into Porto Rico, where already the May-beetles and weevil root-borer ( Diaprepes 
spengleri Linn.) cause great annual loss to cane, would be a calamity beyond hope of 
reparation. 
Federal quarantine regulations against sugar cane introduction do not, unfortu¬ 
nately include protection to Porto Rico, and the insular quarantine law permits intro¬ 
duction of plant products for manufacture or industrial purposes in such phraseology 
as to make difficult the inclusion of sugar cane under the ban of strictly prohibited 
products. However, the quarantine experts of the Insular Experiment Station took 
the matter in hand, presenting many arguments against the proposed cane importa¬ 
tion and bringing all possible pressure to bear against the action, with result that the 
centrals of the island decided to give up the idea of introducing seed cane, and to use 
instead the cultural methods of combating the disease that have been advised by the 
station experts. 
E. Gray wood Smyth. 
The Porto Rico Mole-Cricket in South Carolina and Florida. The Porto Rico 
mole-cricket or “changa,” which has been established in Georgia for a number of 
years where it is a troublesome pest, has made its appearance recently in South Caro¬ 
lina and Florida. 
August 13, 1919, Mr. John C. Burrowes, Jacksonville, Fla., complained of this 
species, stating that it was known as a “cricket mole” and was playing havoc on some 
of the greens and fairways of the Florida Country Club. Carbon disulphid and ar¬ 
senate of lead had been employed as remedies but without success. September 4 
specimens were sent for identification which proved to be Scapteriscus vicinus Scud. 
They were obtained by plowing up the putting greens that the insects had destroyed. 
When the outbreak was first reported poisoned baits such as used for cutworms and 
grasshoppers were advised, and later Mr. B. L. Boyden investigated the infested 
region and reported that these baits were very successful. 
Later in the same month a number of complaints were made of mole-crickets in the 
vicinity of Charleston, S. C., and the infestation was investigated by Mr. W. A. 
Thomas, working under the writer’s direction. This proved to be the same species. 
It is known locally as “ground puppy,” a name which is used for this and the short¬ 
winged mole-cricket in Georgia and in southern Florida, respectively. In a report 
on its occurrence rendered by Mr. Thomas October 21, he stated that the infestation 
covers an area of about 12 square miles and that it is spreading from year to year, 
