348 ORYCTES RHINOCEROS. 

Result of attacks. 
Young Casuarina seedlings attacked by the grubs at first 
show signs of wilting and then die off. Only seedlings and 
very young saplings are attacked. 
Protection and remedies, 
The following are remedies which have been already recom- 
mended for trial :— 
1. Employ boys or women to carefully remove the soil round 
seedlings which are seen to be wilting, and take out and kill the 
fat grubs found at the roots. This should be done when seedlings 
are seen to be dying off in any considerable number even at the 
expense of killing adjacent young plants by thus disturbing their 
root system. The grubs willgo from one plant to another, and 
one grub may thus destroy a number of seedlings. 
2. If feasible, a simple and effective plan is to flood the 
plantation for a few hours so as to drown all the grubs in the 
soil. Those that come up tothe surface should be collected and 
killed. 
3. Remove all diseased, dead and decaying date and cocoanut 
palms in the vicinity of nurseries and young plantations. Also, 
and this is an important point, all refuse heaps of rotting 
vegetation, etc. If, for the preparation of the nursery, special 
soil pits of manure, litter and leaves are prepared they should be 
carefully inspected for these grubs, as the beetles will be certain 
tolay in such a place. A good instance of the danger of such 
was noticed in a Calcutta garden in June 1903. . The heap of 
rich soil and humus used for manuring the flower beds contained 
numbers of the larvze of this insect which were spreading from 
them into the beds of young seedlings, whose roots they were 
devouring. ‘There were palm trees close by. 
Points in the life-history requiring further observation. 
1, Length of time spent in the grub stage, 
2. Length oftime spent in the pupal stage. 
3. Length of time spent in the beetle stage. 
