The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-04-28
HOW THE LANTANA IS
To Be EXTtRM|NATE

They have bug house out at tn,
Government Nursery on King street
bug house that Is meant for the &C
commodation of very select bugs, in
deed. That is to say, they have wha
the laity call bug house, and they
keep insects in it that the lay mine
naturally thinks of as bugs. AL
things that crawl, and have an un
comfortable habit of clingng to the
moist human skin are bugs, to the
general.
Mr.. r. c. L. Perkins, who has charge
of the bug house and the insects that
are lodged there, does not call them
bugs. He has set of general scien-
tific names for them. but nothing spe-
cific, because the bugs have not yet
been named specifically, even by sci
entists. But they are the bugs, many
and various, that feed upon the IAN
tana, and, so long as they do not
change their diet with their changed
habitat that is enough to make them
most welcome to the planters and
stockmen and small farmers of this
pest ridden land.
why" said Mr.. Perkins yesterday.
81 don't know the specific names of
them. Nobody does. In fact, they
haven't any specific names. No sci
enlist has written the entomology of
Mexico. These are all Mexican bugs.
We know the classes they belong to,
but can tell no more about them than
that. We classify them by numbers
at least Mr. Koebele did when he
was collecting them in Mexico, so that
he could keep track of them in his
diary. He did not go beyond that,
nor did the experts at Washington to
whom be sent them for Identification.
But they are iantana destroyers. And
that is the main thing. !
Now here is one insect that have
only three Of in stock" and he pointed
to three pretty and delicate looking
moths, with wings like fine silk, cling
ing to the inner side of the netting
that formed the wall of the bug house.
81 do not know whether l am going
to get stock from these or not, but
l hope so. This one feeds upon the
leaves and the flowers of the lantana,
and will make short work of them,
too. OF course, if even one is female
we will get start.
And then, here is another and
he pointed out little gray moth, of
which the bug house seemed full.
This one goes into the tender green
shoots of the plant and deposits its
eggs, and that is the end of the
growth of that shoot. You can see it
here. The leaves look as if they had
been burned. Well, the egg of this
moth is in there. We have lot of
this kind, you see. But we have not
turned any of them loose yet, | have
been busy killing the parasites that
grow on the bugs. We want the Ian
tana destroyers here, but we want
them Clean if the term be allowable.
That is, we do not want to release
any parasitic bug to prey upon the
bug that preys upon the lantana. The
lantana has had long start, now, and
we want to give the bugs every
chance. 1t is virtually over now. The
victory is, in effect, won. That is, we
know that these bugs destroy the
lantana. But the hardest part Of the
work has been that part of which the
ate little. That has been the battle
against the parasites on the bugs
themselves.
STILL OTHER DESTROYERS. u
There are other insects besides these. |
For instance, there is one that bores
into the plant itself, and destroys it |
at the root. Here is one of these" and
Mr.. Perkins showed great Dubious
antana root that seemed to be the home |
Of some insect that was throwing out |
at his door a large quantity of plant |
dust held together by a delicate web !
You cannot see him." went on Mr.. |
Perkins, but he is in there and hard .
at work. OF course no plant can live |
against the ravages of an insect that
pores into it's roots like that, attacking
t at the very heart. In fact, my idea
S that with these various parasites we
IAN so keep down and thin and weaken
he lantana by having lis leaves and
t seeds and it's flowers eaten off that
t will become small and weak, instead
If growing heavy and strong and thick
Is it does now When this is done the
suns rays will dart down through the
plants, the grass will start beneath it,
md then the pasture lands will be re-
stored to their uses. If the lantana
pushes are small and weak, as they
must be when they are defoliated and
heir seeds constantly blighted, the cat
lie will also go among them and break
hem down and thus we will surely get
he better of the pest.
"As to the seed blighting, that is
.lready worked out. There is a little
lack fly that does that. You come
With me, and l will show you" He led
he way out of the government nur-
cry to where a bunch of lantana was
rowing right in the middle of Young
treet, and the Advertisement follow
d him, and so did couple of members
( the Legislature who had come out
0 see the bug house, and Mr.. Albert q
The petitions favoring the subsidy
ERE also read. Senator Baldwin said
he wireless, was a necessity, and that
costing the amount of
he subsidy would be made. He hoped ,
nat better operators would also be
mployed. Kalauokalani opposed the ,