The Childers cane beetle : farm bulletin no. 4

Abstract

The Childers Cane Beetle is a native scrub-land pest, which, since the destruction of the original scrub timbers and the cultivation of sugar-cane on these lands, has found a new set of conditions which have proved almost ideal for its development and multiplication, and it now ranks as the chief sugar-cane insect pest in Southern Queensland. Its main centre of occurrence is in the Isis district, but it also does considerable damage to cane at Goodwood, Bingera, Gin Gin, Bucca, and in the Woongarra district. It has been known as a serious pest for the past forty years, but the extent and severity of its infestations has now apparently reached a state of partial equilibrium, which, in a large measure, is dependent on weather conditions and to a lesser degree on the carrying-out of certain beneficial farming practices by the growers themselves. In the Isis district, the area destroyed by this pest varies between 100 and 300 acres yearly. In all of the localities mentioned above it is confined to the chocolate, red, and lighter coloured scrub soils, which are mainly of volcanic origin.