210 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Feb. 17, igi2 
Insect Pests. 
CuLEBRA, Canal Zone, Panama, Feb. 3 .—Editor 
Forest and Stream: In your issue of Dec. 30 
a correspondent asks for information in regard 
to tropical pests. I have done considerable hunt¬ 
ing in the jungle of Panama, and as far as local 
conditions are concerned, I will be glad to give 
him the benefit of my experience. 
I believe that in all tropical and semi-tropical 
lands the most annoying and most dreaded of 
all flying insects is the mosquito. There are 
said to be over fifty known species on the zone, 
from the culex which are considered only 
troublesome, to the stegomyia, which participate 
in the conveyance of yellow fever germs. This 
creature of torture is so well known by all that 
it is of no use to elaborate on it. They are just 
about as amiable here as anywhere else. Most 
of them start their work after sunset, but we 
have quite a number which are diurnal. I get 
along pretty well with them by never letting the 
fire in my pipe get low when I am in the jungle. 
The majority of them are carriers of malaria 
infection. Sportsmen who are exposed to them 
will do well to keep a good stock of quinine on 
hand and use it freely. Some with a great deal 
of experience in the jungle believe in taking 
about three grains of quinine a day as a regular 
diet. 
The sand-fly, found along the coast here, is 
tantalizing, but not of any consequence. They 
yield quite readily to the soothing influence of 
tobacco fumes. 
To my mind, the most harassing but least in¬ 
jurious of the bug tribe here is the “moquim,” 
which is nothing more or less than just an ordi¬ 
nary red bug which has found the isthmus a 
happy hunting ground. He is very companion¬ 
able and prefers human company above every 
other. If you go where he is, he insists on ac¬ 
companying you home. There are always a few 
millions or trillions of them on the zone, but 
they are most numerous in the wet season (May 
to December). When they are taking apart¬ 
ments in various parts of your anatomy, they 
are hardly visible, but by next morning you can 
count them by the little red spots on your hide 
and know they are there by the violent itching 
which they cause. They are considered some¬ 
what of a joke; that is, when someone else gets 
them. There is nothing serious about them. 
When scratched, the red spots develop into small 
sores which an (external) application of bay 
rum or any other kind of rum will soon cure. 
Ticks are quite numerous, but they seem to 
prefer the company of animals to humans. They 
bury their head in the flesh and in trying to re¬ 
move them this part of their body is frequently 
left behind and causes a bad sore sometimes. 
If moist tobacco is applied to them, they will 
soon back their way out and seek other com¬ 
pany. 
Of craw'ing things there are ants of all species 
and sizes, from the small red ones to the large 
“tokanderas” which are over an inch long. The 
bite of the latter is like the puncture of a red- 
hot needle; it leaves no sore. 
Scorpions, up to six inches long, are found in 
all parts of the jungle. They hide under flat 
rocks, in rotten trees, and in dark moist places 
generally. Their sting is painful and causes local 
swelling, but I have never heard of any serious 
effects from it. 
Tarantulas are generally found in old deserted 
huts and secluded nooks. One of their favorite 
haunts is the inside of a bunch of bananas. 
Their bite, like the sting of the scorpion, is 
painful, but not dangerous. 
Centipedes are numerous. Their bite is not 
dangerous, but is said to be confoundedly pain¬ 
ful. It leaves a local swelling and is said to 
cause a great disturbance of the system. I have 
had no experience with this beast. 
Besides the above there are probably fifty or 
more bugs, bats, flies and fleas of uncertain line¬ 
age which find the tropics a merry camping place, 
but outside of causing annoyance by their pres¬ 
ence, they are not to be feared. During the wet 
season there is always a greater abundance of 
these creatures than during the dry season when 
the strong trade winds keep the isthmus fairly 
clear of them. 
However, let thoughts and forebod'ngs of 
these not deter anyone from anticipated pleas¬ 
ures of a trip to the tropics. The beautiful 
scenery of the jungle will compensate. They are 
part of the game and complaints are fewer than 
the laughs. Oil of citronella, as an external 
application before going out into the jungle, is 
recommended by many as a means to discourage 
the advances of mosquitoes, flies, ticks, red-bugs 
and other pests. Chas. E. Mengel. 
A Dangerous City Insect Pest. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Even more deadly to our splendid elms than 
the elm leaf-beetle is the leopard moth, an im¬ 
ported pest which has become abundant during 
the last five years, only in cities and large towns. 
This is because the English sparrow has there 
driven out most of the insectivorous birds which 
would have preyed upon it. In country regions, 
even though the native birds are none too 
plenty, there are still enough to keep this dread¬ 
ful pest from gaining a foothold. This is one 
of the most striking concrete examples of the 
economic value of wild birds. 
Unless we can devise methods to protect and 
attract to the cities the native insectivorous 
birds, notably the woodpeckers and their allies, 
our elms and other shade trees will be devastat¬ 
ed more and more. Dwellers in the smaller 
towns may well appreciate the value of the 
birds that they still have, and take care lest, 
through indifference, the same calamity may 
come upon them. It is a problem, thus, for city 
and country alike. 
No spraying methods can affect this pest, be¬ 
cause the larvae, which do the damage, burrow 
in under the bark, and there in secret girdle 
the tree. The first that we know of the destruc¬ 
tion is when we see the tree dying at the top. 
Each of these dead limbs is girdled, and during 
gales they blow off, endangering the lives of 
people passing beneath. It is only a question 
of time when the tree must die. One larva or 
borer is often enough to kill a young elm. 
It is practically impossible for man to do 
much in the way of reaching and destroying this 
secretive borer, inside the wood, often eighty 
feet from the ground. The real expert for this 
work is the woodpecker. The little spotted 
downy woodpecker is the best known, but we 
also have the flicker, and sometimes the hairy 
woodpecker. The nuthatches also are useful in 
this work. Just watch our little hammerer do 
his scientific forestry on that fine elm. Sysr 
tematically he traverses the trunk and branches, 
tapping and sounding. He knows that when the 
wood rings hollow he has struck the burrow. 
Following it up, he hears the drum-beat muffled 
where lies the soft worm. With a few vigorous 
strokes the strong bill pierces the dead wood 
into the chamber, and the marauder is dragged 
out and eaten. J. W. Chapman, of the Boston 
Park Commission, has photographed this work 
of the woodpeckers, and he declares that they 
are doing efficient work in destroying the leop¬ 
ard moth. 
For nearly two years the larva bores, eats 
and grows, except during the winter sleep. 
Then it goes into the pupal stage, soon emerges 
as a moth and lays clusters of eggs on the bark 
of the tree. These hatch in two weeks, and the 
young larvae proceed to bore into the tree. 
During these latter stages the various summer 
insectivorous birds, probably nearly all kinds, 
devour the sluggish “leopard-spotted” whitish 
moths, glean up the egg-clusters, or feast on 
the exposed tender larvae before they can get 
under cover. 
In Europe this pest does some damage in 
cities, but not as much as with us, for there 
the birds are better appreciated and cared for 
than here. In Germany there is a government 
commission to protect and increase the native 
birds by a system which includes feeding the 
birds, preparing nesting-sites, exterminating 
enemies such as the house sparrow, securing 
public co-operation through educational meth¬ 
ods, and the like. Such work should be made 
by law a function of our so-called game com¬ 
missions, or of some other responsible agencies, 
such as State agricultural colleges. If the thou¬ 
sands of dollars wasted in importing foreign 
game birds, with the sole result, in many cases, 
of building political machines, could have been 
used somewhat with the German spirit and ideal, 
we should have more native birds, both insec¬ 
tivorous and game. 
It would be a splendid thing if every school 
in Connecticut and in the whole nation, could 
provide a little instruction—as many are already 
doing—in knowing our wild birds and their 
economic value. Both school children and the 
public should hang out suet in winter to keep 
the woodpeckers and nuthatches in town or 
about the estate to work for us, scatter small 
grain or barn-sweepings for the seed-eating 
tribe, put up bird-boxes, hollow limbs, or tin 
cans, for nesting-sites, keeping English sparrows 
and starlings away, if possible, and in nesting 
time keep the cats shut up. If these things are 
widely done, we may be able to make advance 
in our warfare on the leopard moth and other 
insect pests. Herbert K. Job, 
Connecticut State Ornithologist. 
