About the year 1890 the plant Cordia macrostachya (Jacq.) Roem. and Schult. was accidentally introduced into Mauritius with a consignment of sugarcanes from the West Indies. Later Cordia was spread artificially around the island in an effort to encourage the increase of Tiphia parallela Smith. This parasite was introduced into Mauritius as a possible control agent for the sugarcane root-grub, Clemora smithii (Arrow), and it was found that adult Scoliids fed at the inflorescences of Cordia. (Box 1928). Since that time Cordia has spread considerably and has become a serious pest in Mauritius (for details see Wiehe 1946).

The effectiveness of benzene hexachloride (BHC) when applied to pasture sod as a control for June beetles was demonstrated (1) during 1947 at Marmora. Tests were continued during 1948 to determine the control value of the same contact insecticide against second-year, second- and third-instar larvae at the summer-feeding level in sod land.

A block of field plots was laid out in a pasture which was so severely infested by second-year grubs that it was expected to show most extensive destruction of sod before the end of the summer. It was considered as a most suitable area to determine the efficiency of BHC, in terms of sod protection and white grub mortality.

The commercial production of apples has led growers to greater reliance on chemical control measures for pests than have most fields of agricultural production. Since the turn of the century orchardists have plunged deeper and deeper into artificial measures to produce fruit free from blemishes without greatly alleviating the over-all pest problem and, in some cases, actually producing conditions conducive to still greater problems.