The Pollu Beetle in Andamans - Do Several Lies Make a Truth?

In a recent issue of the Indian Journal of Entomology, Birah et al. have attempted to defend the occurrence of pollu beetle, a pest of black pepper, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (A&N), India, as reported by them in an earlier article in the same journal in 2011. Their most recent article was in response to the counter to their first article by Prathapan in the same journal, wherein he has critically reviewed the literature for the occurrence of the pest, found them wanting in understanding the pest damage, biology and nomenclature, faulted their methodology in assessing the damage and arriving at the insecticide dosage, etc.