POWER OF DESTRUCTION

Chronicle (Levin), 9 November 1946, Page 2

POWER OF DESTRUCTION

—Press Association !

BEETLE CIIANGES ITS HABITS

Ri/ Tpleararth-

NEW PLYMOL'TH, Nuv. 8. . UiisuspccLed by lts iuliubituuts, lnrti-) naki has latcly lu-hieveil a moasure ofj Liupurtuiice througa a (liscovery that, iii eertain eireles, has had considerfible riignilicance. As a provhuje it has pruved how un iusect, the uezara viijv dula in partieular, can ehange its puwers oi! destruction when taken to a diilcrent climate and expected to live under a different environment. Two years ago, cohsiderable pnblicit^ was giveu to the discovery of a neu green beetle, identihed as the nezaia \ iridula variety, which was found on Taranaki vegetables but no where else in New Zealand. In parts of America and Australia. and 011 certain of the PaciJic islands this beetle was regarded as a serious [iesl, its dcstfuotive habits causing widespread damage to iuany hinds of vegetation with consequent heavy losses to vegetable growers and plantation owners. Its presence in furanaki was accepted" with consternation. Reports were demanded, lucalities of infestation were explo red, scienlists were interviewed, and eutoniologists from the plant diseases divisiou of the Department of Agriculture hurried to investigate. It was thougbt to mean the end of vegetable growntg in the province. But the green beetle is still tlourishing in Taranaki, thougli it does not appear to have. any injurious effect on its host. plaut. U can be weem on beans, Ijut the neans continue to thrive without check. It (avours toinato plants, but tomiitoes, provided they survive iilight aiul other visitatious not connected witli the viridula, still, ripen. It can be seen crawliug over cabbages and caulifluwers, but they are not destroyed. It infests nearlv every type of vegetable and eveu native shrubs, but the plants talte practically no notice. While leafy growth is ruined j 11 other parts of the world, a w?de range of host plants in Taranaki just keep on growing. Liscussiug this peculiarity, the in structor in horticulture and ortihards at New L'lymouth, Mr. E. R. Taylor, said yesterday that the green beetle in Taranaki provided an unusual in>,\unce of an iusect pest, delinitely a serious meuace in other parts of the world, exisling 011 the same kiiul of food and with the same reproductive cycie, but with little or 110 significance to the fate of the plant. The reason for this ehange in the habits of the insect appears obscure. It may be that the beetle itself has undergone some forni of evolution, or that perliaps the vegetation of the province possesses eharucteristies not found elsewhere. The climate _ may exert an influence, or the volcanic soil may curb an othonyivSe voracious appetite. At all events, scientists and ento mologists have lost interest i"« the menaee of the inuch publieiscd nvzara viridula.