IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18509, 21 March 1922, Page 2

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

THE RHINOCEROS BEETLE. By J. Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S. Mr H. R. Ritchie, Director of Agriculture in Western Samoa has written from Apia commenting on statements by Mr A. Trevor Fairbrother, Marovo Lagoon, Solomon islands, that a flame tree, Poinciana regia, is the most effective known enemy of the rhinoceros beetle. Mr Fairbrother, who is a Solomon Island planter, stated that ct one time the rhinoceros beetle became so destructive on his plantation that he contemplated abandoning it. but, by cultivating Poinciana regia, he, 18 months later, reduced the pest by about 90 per cent. The tree, lie stated, attracts the insects. They chew the bark, which exudes a sap or gum in which they are entangled. Their legs and wings become helpless, and they may l>e caught and destroyed. If they are left on a tree small ants quickly deal with them. ' 1 R* tc h' e states that in Samoa there is a flamboyantc tree that is regarded as the true Poinciana, but there is no record of its having particular attractions for rhinoceros beetles. He thinks that this may be explained by the fact that the rhinoceros beetle in the Solomons (Trichogomphus semilinki) is a different species from the rhinoceros beetle of Samoa (Oryctes nasicornis), or by the fact that the Samoan i oinciana is a different species from the one on Mr Fuirbrolhor’s plantation. Mr Hitchio continues; "It would be particularly interesting to obtain from Mr Fairbrother seeds of his Poinciana, to be planted in Samoa. A correspondent in the New Hebrides, about a year ago, suggested that flamboyunto trees should Ire planted as a means of exterminating the beetles. The department replied asking him to send seeds of the flamboyantc in the Now Hebrides, but no reply has been received from him. Ihe statement that Poinciana attracts the beetles has been made repeatedly, but, as far as our information goes, evidence .'n support of it is of the most meagre description. and we will be pleased to see the subject investigated further.” Mr Fairbrother stated that the flamboyantc tree is different from the Poinciana, and does not attract the beetles. Commenting on this, Mr Ritchie writes: “Is it not correct that the two trees are identical? Mr H. F. Macmillan, author of ‘The Handbook of 1 ropical Gardening,’ heads a short paragraph on Poinciana as follows:‘Poinciana regia. Legummosse—Flamboyante; flame tree; golden mohur'.’ ” “Two kiwis that live within a hundred yards of our back door call very often from below the bedroom window,” Mr C. Opie, juu., wrote from Tangahoe, some 20 miles up (he Wanganui River from Pipiriki, on February 19. “We put out food for them. The meat always has disappeared by the following morning, but whether it is oaten by kiwis or wild cats I cannot say. Bushmen. when scrubbing their job, might find every kiwi’s nest in their block. Why not pay the bushies to look for the kiwis and keep them alive? They are worth at least 10s to the country. On any bushfelling contract up to 250 acres there would be only 10 kiwis, at a maximum estimate. Maoris will give anybody £1 for a kiwi, I am told on the best authority. They use the feathers n.nd the bills. 1 should like to bo a ranger the first time I see a contract of that, nature. On this side of the Wanganui River the left side, from Koriniti up to Retamke. about 70 miles, there wore thousands of kiwis 16 years ago. Now ihere are only hundreds. Why? Because the most suitable places in the forests for kiwis are most suitable for settlement. Bushmen with dogs were the first destroyers. I felled bush in the best kiwi country in New Zealand—at Ranana, on the Wanganui River—and there I had direct evidence as to the part taken by bushmen in destroying New Zealand’s most precious birds. After the bushmen have finished, then comes the firing of the bush', and then good-bye to the kiwis. They will not leave the fallen bush. The should have offered a fee for each live kiwi years ago, and should have placed all the captured kiwis on a sanctuary. It is not too late to do this now.” Long-tailed opokoos, Mr Opie reported, were plentiful ip his district when he wrote. On one occasion he saw as many as 50 on one face of bush, looking from hia back door. That was an unusual occasion. The usual thing is to hear 10 on a face of one hundred acres. During the three weeks before Mr Opie wrote, long-tailed cuckoos twice had gathered in flocks. He compares the individuals very aptly to miniature aeroplanes. The tui is their chief enemy in that district, which, by the way, he describes as a naturalists’ paradise, and he finds it interesting to watch a male tui 'keeping 20 or more long-tailed cuckoos away from a female tui, He continues: “The smaller species, the shining cuckoo, is our weather prophet. Twelve months ago I ridiculed the idea of its taking the role, but I am quite convinced now; Mr D. C. Bates is good, but the shining cuckoo never is wrong. An instance is supplied by the fact that I have not heard a shining cuckoo during the past two weeks, and the weather has been beautifully fine all the time. We need rain badly, but I know that we will not get it just now, because the shining cuckoo always gives us 24 hours’ warning.’ Tawa, hinuu, and miro berries in the forest where Mr Opie lives provide a desirable home for wood pigeons, which are plentiful, luis are plentiful, but not as plentiful as bellbirds which provide “a rare treat” at dawn. ‘‘We have an outlook across the river on to about 600 acres of dense bush, and you can imagine the singing of the choir,” the letter continues. “A humorous element is supplied by e tui, which when trying to imitate the bellbirds gets in the last basso touch, which makes a poor finale.” deferring to the insects of the district, Mr Opie says: “Did you ever see a mason wasp bring in her. captured spiders, and, on entering her clay storehouse, find the crack or groove too narrow for the spider? It is marvellous how the spider is pushed in. The mason wasp cannot use her head as a lever, and she must have extraordinary strength n her front legs. One cannot hang his coat up for an hour here without a mason wasp beginning to build in it. The sleeves are the most favoured sites. The captive spiders apparently are brought from the bush or the cliffs, as the wasps usually are somewhat exhausted when they reach their homeS. I am convinced that the captive spiders are hypnotised.” Mr S. F. Whitcombe, writing from Bellcknowes, Dunedin, in regard to a statement by the -Hon. D. Buddo. M.L.C., that be saw a bevy of quail in the Bay of Island county, states that they are not New Zealand quail, but a species of small brown Australian quail introduced into the North Island many years ago. “I have shot numbers of them in the Waitakuri district. rs far south as Longburn,” Mr Whitcombe writes. “They are smaller than the Californian quail, make shorter flights, and never take refuse in trees and bushes, hut always alight in the grass or the fern. They arc very similar to quail found ,‘n Europe from Seotember to about the end of January. Those quail are migratory, going from the shores of Africa in vast numbers to different parts of Europe, and returning home in January and February. Groat numbers of them pass over Malta, and many are caught in set nets and fattened for the market.” Mrs D. Ryan, of Lauder, Vincent County, has sent a letter covering a match-box in which, she said, she had confined an insect that makes a small hole in the ground and lies in wait for other insects. On one occasion a blowflv flew into a hole and was caught and nulled to the bottom head first. I failed to find the insect in the match-box, but Mrs Ryan’s description seems to show that it was a native antlion. in its grub or larval stage. _ Grubs of the same species or of allied species have been observed on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu, in the North Island. They there make tiny pitfalls, or traps, up to two inches in diameter and .an inch and a-half in depth, in sandy soil and in a sunny aspect. All the work of excavating (he soil, apparently, is done under the cover of darkness. ' This is in keeping with the deeds of these insect bandits. Watching them at night.. Mr H. Hamilton, of the Dominion Museum, received a lesson in mechanical engineering. Each trap .s shaped like an inverted cone. When it has been completed satisfactorily the grub takes u)i a position at the bottom, buried in the sand, but with its formidable jaws ready for immediate action. The victims usually are flies, wetas. woodliee, and spider's, whoso juices are extracted. When a grub is fullv developed it spins a silk cocoon about half an inch in diameter and covered on ihe outside with particles ff sand. Tn the cocoon it goes through ils chrysalis stage, and the perfect insect finally emerges frm a small, circular opening in the cocoon.