Indian Museum notes

i
fl Mi
1
t
hea
'
1
i

DIAN MUSEUM NOTES.

ISSUED BY THE TRUSTEES.

VOLUME III._—No. 2.

Published by anthority of the Government of Endia, Revenue and
Agricultural Department,

CALCUTTA:
PRINTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING, INDIA.
1893.

Price Four Annas.

puget ete

. L. Lethierry . :
a B. Va F, me .

) ate B. Buckton, F.R.S.
tor: by F. Moore, F.Z.S.

Be aoe

e

e

Che Crustees ~

OF

| THE INDIAN MUSEUM.

-_

Vol. Ill, 1 [No 2,

THE LOCUST INVASION OF 1889—$92.

In the early part of 1891 a report was issued on the subject of the
migratory locust Acridium peregrinum Oliv.
which has recently invaded India, ‘lhis re-
port gave a summary of the information obtained up to the beginning of
December 1890. The notes since collected on the subject of the inva-
sion of Northern Africa, Persia and Turkish Arabia by the same insect,
appeared in Vol. III, No. 1, of these Notes, where details are also given
of what has been ascertained on the subject of the parasites and natural
enemies which attack it in India. In the present report it is proposed
to give a short sketch of the general features of the invasion in [ndia,
together with such fresh information as has been obtained on the subject
of the habits of the insect and the methods adopted for dealing with it.
The locusts were first noticed in June 1889, when flights were reported
The history of the invasion in ff0m Sind and Western Rajputana. These
India. flights no doubt originated in the sand-hilis
of the desert, where the insect is said to breed each year in larger or
smaller numbers. They began laying their eggs as usual in June, when
the rains of the south-west monsoon broke. During the remainder of
the rainy season of 1889 the fliehts gradually spread throughout Hastern
Rajputana, the Punjab, and Sind, egg-laying going on at intervals in
various parts of Rajputana and the Punjab, ‘The young locusts which
were born from the eggs laid in the beginning of the rains, acquired
wings towards the latter part or August. In the beginning of the cold
weather, owing to the extensive breeding which had taken place, the
locusts seem to have become very numerous in Rajputana and the
Punjab, and in November and December flights from these areas found
their way throughout the North-West Provinces and Central India, and
penetrated even as far as the Vizagapatam, Kistna and Godavari Districts
in the Madras Presidency. They were also reported from British
Baluchistan. During January and Febiuary 1890 stray flights were
reported from various parts of India, but the cold seems to have told
upon them, and they were not very active, As the hot weather of 1590
approached, however, and the soil, moistened by the winter rain, began
to grow warm, the locusts again became active and commenced egg-
laying. Eggs were layed throughout the north-western districts of
the Punjab in March; also in the Shikarpur District of Sind in April.
By June the young locusts hatched from these eggs had acquired wings,
and the flights spread in all directions. They penetrated throvghout the

Contents.

1775?

7 Indian Museum Notes, [ Vol. II.

whole of the North-West Provinees, besides overrunning Sind and Raj-
putana, and making their way into Kathiawar, Eggs were laid towards
the latter part of June 1890, when the rains had well started, through-
out the whole of Western Rajputana, and in the Gurgaon District of
the Punjab. The young locusts hatched out in countless numbers in
July, and in the case of Western Rajputana they were reported as doing
much damage in August. During August and September the flights
that were still wandering about, laid more eggs in parts of the Punjab.

About September the young locusts, that had been born in the beginning’

of the rains, seem to have acquired wings, and from September, on
through the cold weather of 1890-91, the flights spread in all directions
in the most remarkable manner, They male their way throughout
Sind, Punjab and the North-West Provinces. Vast flights also moved
through Central India into the Central Proviness, and thence eastwards
into Bengal and Assam, southwards through Berar and Hyderabad into
the Madras Presidency, and westwards into the Bombay Deccan. The
flights did a good deal of injury in the restricted areas where they
settled, but the people were so industrious in driving them off their crops,
and the birds destroyed such large numbers, that the damage inflicted
was small ensidering the vastness of the invasion. Through December,
January and February, flights were still reported from all parts of India,
but the cold and damp, combined with the relentless persecution of the
birds and the people, had thinned their numbers and reduced them to so
miserable a state that they were able to do little or no damage.

In March 1891 some of the locusts obtained from the flight which
Passed over Caleutta in November 1890 began to lay eggs in their cages
in the Indian Museum, About the same time, owing no donbt to the
increasing warmth at the close of the winter rains, the flights in the
Punjab beeame more active, and egg-laying took place at first in the
north-west of the Punjab and Sind, and afterwards in Baluchistan.
In May the young locusts hitched from these eggs became extremely
numerous In the Punjab.

The rabi crops were generally too far advanced in growth to be
much damaged by them, but the extra rabi and the early sown kharif
crops—especially eotton—suffered severely. The grass in some tracts was
completely eaten down, and almost every bush and tree was stripped of
its leaves. Some idea may be formed of the numbers in which the

insects appeared, from the fact that railway trains were said to have often -

found it difficult to proceed, owing to the rails being made slippery
by the crushed bodies of the young locusts. A regular warfare was
waged against the insects, under the leadership of the district officials,
who organized the people for the purpose of collecting the eggs and

No. 2. ] The Locust Invasion of 1589—92. m9

destroying the young locusts systematically. The military also rendered
useful service in destroying the swarms that invaded cantonments.

The method that was most generally adopted was that of driving the
young locusts into trenches, but the Cyprus screens desciibed in the pre-
vious report were also used to a small extent, and useful work was done
by driving the young into heaps of straw and bushes which were then
set on fire. In this way many thousands of maunds of young locusts
were destroyed, and the actual crops were in many places protected.
The numbers of the locusts, however, that bred in waste places in the
Punjab was so enormous that success was only partial, and vast hordes
became full grown and acquired wings. Towards the latter part of
May large flights of these young lccusts began to pass over Central
India and the North-West Provinces into the Central Provinces and
Bengal, at the same time penetrating into Kathiawar. During the
months of June, July and August, these flights seem to have flown
about from district to district, descending at intervals to devour the
young kharif crops and doing a good deal of damage over restricted
areas, especially in Bengal. They did not lay any eggs, however, and
little was heard of them after August, the supposition being that by
this time they had been pretty completely destroyed by the birds and
unfavourable climatic condition of the damp regions into which they had
penetrated.

The immediate result of the departure of these flights seems to have
been to clear the Punjab of locusts, but the insect was still prevalent in
Sind and Rajputana, and soon after the commencement of the rains
of the south-west monsoon, flights began to be again reported
from the Punjab. During the rainy season of 1891, egg-laying went on
as usual in Sind and Rajputana, while in the Punjab, egys were reported
in comparatively small numbers, at first from the south-eastern
districts, and afterwards throughout the whole area, thus pointing to the
supposition that the eggs were laid by flights from Rajputana. Breed-
ing seems to have gone on at intervals throughout the rainy season of
1891, young locusts being still reported in the Punjab Salt Range in
November, But they were very much fewer than before, and the birds
—cspecially the Rosy-pastor (Pastor roseus)—destroyed them in vast
numbers. The locusts themselves also were so much parasitised and
diseased that the work of the people in destroying them was very much
lightened, and by the close of the year the pest seems to have been
pretty completely wiped out.

In March 1892 a few locusts again appeared in Sind and the western
frontier of the Punjab, and laid eggs in Dera Ismail Khan, while in
May some stray flights penetrated into the North-West Provinces and

A 2%

3) Ind‘an Museum Notes. [ Vol. Tie.

Bengal, little damave, however, has been reported, and the insects seern
to have been too few to cause any anxiety.

It will be remembered that the only important points in the life

ores ton eneMeennictary of history of the insect on which any serious
the insects. doubts were indicated in the previous report,
were upon the subject of the number of generation in the year and the
relationship borne by th» young loeusts which hateh out in the spring
to those which hatch out in the autumn. An attempt has since been
made to settle these points by rearing the insect vpon a considerable
scale in large cages which were specially constructed for the purpose
in the Indian Museum. ‘The cages were placed under somewhat differ-
ent conditions of sunlight and moisture, but in each ease the insects,
though reared from the egg to the imago stage without difficulty, died
off before any ovipositing took place.

Considerable quantities of eggs were received from Rawalpindi and
Peshawar in the spring of 1891. The first sets dried up without hateh-
ing, in spite of the attempts that were made to keep them moist by
watering the earth in which they were placed (). Eggs received in the
end of March, however, hatched out freely, though a large proportion are
believed to have been destroyed by the parasitic flies that also emerged

in large numbers(?). These young locusts were reared through all their ~

stages without dificulty, though there was considerably greater mortal-
ity amongst them than had been the case with the ones that were reared
in the Museum the previous year, and this in spite of the fact that the
rearing cages were-larger than before, and were kept, some in the
Museum and others in the open air, with a view to testing the conditions
most favourable to the development of the insect. The young locusts
acquired wings by the middle of May, but died off so rapidly that there
was hardly any of them left by the end of the month. It was not possible,
therefore, to make any observations as to the time at which they would
lay their eggs.

On the 19th June 1891,.Captain C. G. Parsons wrote from Kohat,
that up to a few days previously locusts had been obtainable in the
western portion of the district in every phase of development from eggs
to fully-winged insects. He concluded that the process of egg-batching
had continued from the beginning of April until the beginning of June
in tracts of country where the difference in elevation caused only a slight
change of climate. We have seen that the locusts that were hatched

(*) This would seem to indicate that breaking up the land to expose the eggs to the air

would be useful, provided it were done soon after the eggs were laid. Later on ploughing
up the land becomes almost useless as the eggs hatch out whether exposed tv the
air or not.

(?} Noticed more fully in No. I of this volume, pages 34 and 35.

iMag The Locust Invasion of 1889—92. S1

from the earlier batches of eggs, acquired wings in May, but there is
evidence to show that these voung locusts were not the parents of the
eggs found by Captain Parsons in the middle of June, and probably not
of any of the eggs laid during the rains, The flights which overran the
North-West Provinces and other parts of India during the rains of
1891 were composed, as we have seen, of the young locusts in question.
Large numbers of specimens from these flights were sent to the Museum
from various places, but the numerous females that were dissected, in-
variably had their ovaries far too undeveloped for egg-laying. It is
clear, therefore, that these young locusts could act have been the parents
of the later broods of eggs. The case of the locusts sent to the Museum
from flights which visited Singbhoom in the end of June and begin-
ning of July, has been recorded as a typical one. The first specimens
from this district were received in the Museum on the 30th June. The
females were found on dissection to have their ovaries in an altogether
rudimentary condition. On 7th July a number of living specimens
were forwarded from the same locality. hese were carefully fed in
a cage in the Museum, and from time to time a specimen was dissected ;
but up to the 7th of August, when the last specimen died and was dis-
sected, though the growth which had taken place in the ova was very
distinetly perceptible, yet there did not appear to be the slightest pro-
bability of the insects being ready to oviposit for a long time to come.
The impossibility of keeping the locusts in a healthy condition in
confinement makes it that deductions drawn from caged specimens must
necessarily be unreliable. So far, however, as the evidence can be de-
pended upon, it goes to show that the later broods are not the offspring
of the young locusts hatched in the early part of the year. ‘The ques-
tion would be an easy one to solve for any one who lived on the borders of
the deserts of Western Rajputana, where the msect is constantly to be
found, All that would be necessary would be to dissect the insects
present from day to day, and to trace the growth of the ovaries throughout
the year. It may Le suggested that the matter is one that might
reasonably be taken up by some of the medical officers who are resident
in the areas concerned.

With regard to the parentage of the eggs which are so often laid
io the Punjab towards the close of the winter rains, it has been ascer-
tained that eegs can be laid ai this time by locusts which were themselves
hatched in the preceding rains. Winged locusts from a flight wlich
passed over Caleuttain November 1890, and which had almost certainly
originated in eggs laid in Rajputana in the previous rains, were kept 1 a
cage in the Museum and regularly fed. In the latter part of March 1891
they began copulating, andon the 26th March a number of eggs were
laid. The earth in the cage had been previously saturated with water, in

CO
lo

Indian Museum Notes. [ Vol. un:

imitation of the conditions that have been shown to be favourable to
egg-laying, but the msects seemed to be too sickly to dig holes in the
cround and simply deposited them on the surface. Some of the locusts
lived on, after laying their eggs, through a great part of April, but by
the 4th of May they were all found to have died, while the eggs they
had laid dried up, and came to nothing. Very much the same expe-
rience is detailed by Colonel Powlett, Resident, Western Rajputana
States, who writes in a report, dated 24th April 1891, received from the
Agent to the Governor-General, Rajputana, through the Government of
India :—

“ Atand about Jodhpore most of the young brood of locusts appeared early in
August. When this brood got wings in September, I caught some hundreds and put
themin cages and had them regularly fed; they died off, and by February there were
less than twenty left, but two pairs of these were observed to copulate. On the 24th
and 25th February two females laid eggs. They were not healthy masses of eggs, and
the females did not succeed in depositing them under the soil placed in the cages, nor
have they hatched. But itis evidently difficult to keep locusts healthy in cages,
and the oviposits being poor is not wondered at. It would appear, however, to be
proved that the common locusts of Northern India can copulate and lay eggs six or
seven months after birth, and that in all probability the eggs lately laid in the Punjab
were those of insects hatched last August. The locusts which copulated round Jodhpore
last July were of a bright yellow; the survivors of their offspring, which were pink
when put into the cages in September, were in- February a dirty purple colour, and to
the best of my recollection that was the colour of the locusts the eggs of which
many years ago I helped to destroy during the month of March in the Punjab.”

‘The habitual disappearance of locusts throughout the greater portion
of the winter months in North-Western India is explained by the fact that
they require little or no food during this period, and probably hybernate
in a dormant condition. On28th February 1891 Mr. J. Cleghorn wrote
that locusts had been hybernating without food in a cage kept in his house
in Peshin, Baluchistan, since the 15th September 1890, though he had
found that similar insects in the summer required to be fed constantly to
keep them alive.

There is little to add to what has already been recorded upon the

Measures adopted against Subject of the methods adopted in Sighting the
the locusts. locusts, but it may be useful to notice what
was actually done during the year 1891 in carrying on the campaign
in different districts. The reports which have been received upon this sub-
ject are very fraymentary, but the measures they describe are probably
typical of what went on over the greater portion of the areas invaded.(*)

(?) The following notices are mostly taken from a report by the Director of Land Re-
cords and Agriculture, Punjab, supplemented by the information collected from crop and
other reports sent to the Museum,

CO
cy

Non Qe The Locust Invasion of 1889—92.

In the eold weather of 1890-91 numbers of the winged locusts which
swarmed into the Rawalpindi district were killed in the early mornings,
when they were numb with cold, by the people; and as the spring of
1891 advanced, a regular campaign was organized throughout the Punjab
by the district officials for the destruction of the young locusts.

In Dera Ismail Khan, a naib-tahsildar and kanungo, with six or
seven.chaprasis unler them, were put in charge of each tappa, and lam-
bardars and zaildars were warned to render every assistance in their
power. Five hundred rupees were spent in rewards. ‘The wells and
water-courses were kept clean to avert epidemic disease, but the people
were very apathetic, and little impression was made on the vast swarms
which crowded into the district.

In Rawalpindi, the district was divided into circles with an officer in
charge of each whose main duty it was to look after the destruction of
the locusts and their eggs. All tahsil officials were employed in the
work of destruction, and a thousand rupees were spent from district funds.
Millions of eggs and young locusts were destroyed, but the impression
made was small, as the insects laid their eggs largely in the extensive
and sparsely peopled Kala Chitta Range, where it was most difficult to
get at them.

In Hazara some four hundred maunds of young locusts were de-
stroyed in April in the Mansahra Tahsil under the direction of the tah-
sildar.

In Peshawar the villagers were turned out at once whenever young
locusts showed themselves, and by the 20th April some ten thousand
people were at work. When the rabi harvest began the villagers were
dismissed, and five thousand hired labourers were employed until about
the 3rd of May, when the barley was half reaped and the ears of wheat
were tco hard to be attacked by the young locusts. Ata low estimate,
over eighty millions of young locusts were destroyed, the cost being about
eight thousand rupees, ‘Ihe myriads of locusts, however, which poured
into the district from indep nd nt territory made it impossible to deal at
all completely with the invasion.

In Kchat orders were issued to turn out the people when the locusts
hatched, and the greatest exertions were made to deal with the pest. In
the Kohat station itself, Captain Parsons wrote that the chief invasion
lasted about ten days. During this time vast numbers of locusts were de-
stroyed each day, the quantity amo mting on one cccasion to six hundred
maunds. One rupee was paid for each miund weighed. Nearly all the
undetained inhabitants of the city laboured, and the troops and the boys
of the large High School assisted. ‘Ihe collection of the msects was very
simple, as they could be shaken off the trees by thousands into sheets held
below. Four men cou!d collect a maund in a very short time. ‘There

SA, Indian Museum Notes, . Vols ii

were ten weivhing stations established, and the district funds were freely
drawn upon. According to a crop report published in June 1891] numbers of
young locusts in the Hangu Tahsil of Kohat were also destroyed by firing
the dwarf palms through which they were crawling, while in the Barak
ilaqua the destruction is noticed in the same report of some three thousand
maunds of young locusts. |

In Jhelum the destruction of eggs began early in March. From five
handred to six hundred maunds of eggs were destroyed in one tuhsil,
At first one anna, ard later half-an-anna, a svar was paid for the eges,
while gur and atta were distributed to the people eugaged in destroying
the young locusts. Some R3,000 was noticed as spent from district funds
in the early part of the spring upon the destruction of eggs and young
locusts. But the Deputy Commissioner states that the people were in-
clined to be apathetic, as, from the dimensions of the plague, 1t seemed
hopeless to cope with it.

In Shahpur the Naib-Tahsildar of Khushab was put in special charge
and large numbers of young locusts were destroyed, though little real 1m-
pression was made upon the pest.

In Gujranwala i March many of the winged locusts were killed in
the mornings and evenings when they were inactive. Every patwari,
lambardar and policeman was made responsible for reporting at the tah-
sil whenever eggs were laid or young appeared. Land in which eggs
had been deposited, if not under erop, was ploughed three or four times
so as to expose them. Hyves also were collected in great numbers, the
usual plan being to make each house in a village furnish daily a “ tind ”
or well-pot full of eggs.

In Siatkot bands of villagers were organised to kill the young locusts,
The methods adopted were, driving them into trenches and burying them,
and surrounding them with a cirele of men armed with branches, who
gradually drove them into straw, which was then burnt.

An interesting account is given by Colonel Lance, the officer com-
manding at Ferozepur, of the methods adopted in fighting the yourg lo-
custs which invaded that cantonmentin May 1891. Both British and
Native troops were employed in the work, and Colozel Lance writes:

“ach corps and detachment was given certain limits within which it was to
w.ik and to do its best to destroy any swarms that came within them ; corps, however,
wore employed at other places that were heavily threatened, as required.

“With the exception of one heavy swarm that came on the 17th Benyal Cavalry
Imes, the swarms came on the south-west corner of the station, and on the south-
east and north-east as far as the cemetery, near the Sudder Bazar. In the Commis-
sariit-Transport lines they were in countless numbers, and for days it seemed as
if they would succeed in getting into the station from that dircetion.

Wo 22.4. The Locust Invasion of 1889—92. 85

The method principally adopted to destroy the locusts was by burning them with
dry grass, When swarming in trees or bushes this seems to be the only effective
method. When in open ground it is easy to drive them to lines or clumys of dry grass
in which they swarm, and which is lighted when the whole swarm has collected. The

- objection to this method, however, is the enormous expenditure of grass, even when
used economically, as was done when the men became experienced in the work. Large
quantities of grass were bought, but the Executive Engineer placed at my disposal
a large quantity of old thatch, without which it would have been impossible to have
provided the quantity of grass required. Kerosine was tried with the grass. It was
used chiefly to burn the locusts out of trees and bushes, but it was found after trial
that in most cases the grass was nearly as effective without kerosine, a great deal of
which was required to. produce any result.

“It was found that grass could be much economised by digging a small trench about
a foot deep and a foot wide, filling the bottom with a little grass and laying the same
lightly on the earth thrown upon the side opposite to that towards which the locusts
were being driven. A little more grass sprinkled round the trench after the swarm

had been driven into it, and set fire to, effectively secured the destruction of the swarm
with but little expenditure of grass.

* Pits were also dug into which the locusts were driven and then buried. This
plan is said to answer well when the insects are small, but when, as in the present
case, they are large and active, it was found that they could not be kept in the pits
unless they were dug very deep, and even then many succeeded in getting away.

“Thad the opportunity of trying the method said to have been used with great
success in Cyprus. Low canvas screens were made from condemned tents supplied

‘from the arsenal, and strips of American cloth, over which the locusts cannot crawl

were sewn to their upper edge. In front of these screens, which were set up in the
path of the locusts, pits were dug, round which an edging of tin was placed, up which
the locusts could not crawl. Driven against these screens the locusts either hopped
into the pit themselves, or were driven in by men who eventually surrounded them.
The advantages of this plan are the extent of ground that is covered, the comparatively
few men that are required, and the completeness of the operation, as if the screens are
sound and the drive conducted with skill and patience, scarcely any locusts can
escape being driven into the pits. The tin rim obviates the necessity of the pits being
dug deep, 2 or at most 3 feet being sufficient. The rims used were 4 feet by

2 feet, an edging of 23 inches of tin on the ground surface round the pit, and the

same width on the inside ede of it.

“T reoret that I knew of this plan too late to provide sufficient screens for general
‘use. I believe that this system will be found most efficacious, and feel confident that
had we been prepared with this apparatus the work of destruction would have been
carried on with less trouble, and with better results.”

In Jhang, according to a crop report issued in June 1591, twenty
thousand maunds of locusts had up to that time been destroyed.

The above comprises all detailed information which has reached the
Museum onthe subject of what was done in the Punjab in the spring
of 1891, but numerous incidental notices have been received of the work
of destruction which seems to have gone on systematically in all districts
where young locusts hatched out.

With regard to what was done in Sind and Rajputana, where egg-

86 Indian Museum Notes. LE Volk Ua.

laying also went on, little fresh information has been obtained, but the
people seem as usual to have dene what they could in the way of de-
stroying the young locusts by driving them into trenches.

In the case of the measures taken in districts that were only visited.
by flights, no fresh information has been received, but the system which
has proved so successful of driving the insects off the crops, is believed
to have been universally adopted by the cultivators.

E. C, Cores,
Deputy Superintendent,

Indian Museum, Caleutta,
Sth June 1892.

ie 2)
“J

No, 2. 1] Notes on Tndian Aphides.

NOTES ON INDIAN APHIDES.
By G, B. Bucxton, F.R.S.

But little attention hitherte has been given to the tropical Aphides
of the old world, Any addition to our knowledge of the species which in-
habit British India doubtless will prove of interest, both as being con-
nected with scientific entomology, and with agricultural economy.

Hitherto these Homoptera have been regarded as chiefly inhabiting
the temperate regions of the world, but there are reasons for believing
that observation only is needed to prove the existence of diverse species,
which control the vegetation which flourishes under the equator.

The Aphis which attacks the bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea) of
Dehra Dun, hardly accords with any described European species or even
genus. Amongst many hundred specimens sent to me by Mr. Cotes
I was unable to find a single winged individual, a circumstance which
for the present prevents a complete diagnosis of the species, since the
wing venation is of high importance for classical grouping. ‘The
characters of the bamboo Aphis, however, are sufficiently distinct to
justify, in my opinion, the erection of a new genus, notwithstanding that
the diagnosis at present can refer only to the apterous viviparous female.
-« Genus Oregma (from 7opéyey to protrude), Buckton. Body globose,
Vertex conspicuous from the projection of two straight horn-like process.
es. Cornicles small and conical. Cauda inconspicuous, often tufted
with numerous sete. Rostrum exceedingly short and rising from
between the first coxe.

Oregma bambuse, Buckton.—Body globose, less so in the imma-
ture forms. Corruvated aud con-
stricted into segments. Vertex with
two cornua. Eyes very small. Notum
narrow. Rostrum very dithcult to
see, ising from the underside of the
thorax, much as in Coccus. Antenne
about half the length of the body,
obscurely five-jointed and ending
with anail-like process. as in Lachnus.
Legs short. Tarsi with two articula-
tions. Colour greenish brown, more
or less mottled with black, Many of
the specimens preserved in weak spirit
were quite black.

Size 0:070 x 0050 inch.

Clusters on the upper surfaces of

Ss

Indian Museum Notes. { Vol. ITI,

the bamboo at Dehra, covering the foliage of the plants with its sooty-
black excretion, thereby doing some iajury.

The winged female and the (apterous?) male are undescribed.

The general appearance of this insect may suggest some affinities both
with the genus Lachnus and the genus Chaitophorus ; but the smal]
size of the insect, the short legs, the peculiar front, and the position of
the very short rostrum will eliminate it from the first genus, whilst the
non-tuberculose and slightly hirsute characters of the abdomen, ete., will’
separate it from the latter.

An examination of the winged insect will be interesting, and show
the group to which this aphis should be referred.

Description of the figures =
Fig. 1. Apterous viviparous female.

» 2.

One w

Underside of the head, showing the position of the rostrum between the fore-
coxe, the two cornua, and antenne,

. The two jointed rostrum.

. fhe cornicle.

. Tarsus.

. Abdominal apex of immature forms.

Wa: 2. | A new Lasiocampid Defoliator. 89

A NEW LASIOCAMPID DEFOLIATOR.
By F. Moors,
Spalyria minor. (') n, sp.

goa Peers very pale ochreous-yellow. Fore.wing crossed by a

= ER s medial anda discal faintly indicated
slender dusky band, both of which are
parallel with the outer margin, the
outer band being incurved at its ante-
rior end, and the inner band bent
inward and slightly waved. Hind-
wing crossed by two similar slender
bands, both parallel with the outer
margin and ineurved, inner band slightly waved.

eee somewhat darker ochreous, both wings crossed by two less
apparent slender bands, as on the
upperside. Front of head, palpi,
and legs above brighter ochreous ;
pectus brownish ochreous; body
above pale ochreous; abdomen
beneath a little darker; antennz
pale ochreous ; the shaft paler;
eyes black.

female.—W ings longer and narrower than in male. Upperside uni-
formly purpurescent ochreous-brown. Fore-wing crossed by two similar
dusky bands, which are somewhat broader and darker than in male, the
inner band passing through a darker spot at end of the cell. Hind-wing
with two similar bands, which are straighter in their course across the
wing. Cilia edged with pale cinereous.. Pody darker purpurescent ochre-
ous-brown ; front of head, pectus, and legs brighter coloured. Underside
somewhat paler; both wings with the transverse slender bands less
apparent. Antennse dark ochreous-brown.

Expanse— 18, 2 1% inch.

Hatitat— Burma

Feeds on herbage.

1 The caterpillars of this insect are said to have proved injurious in Shwebo, aie For
a note on the subject, see page 20 of No. I of this volume. The types here described consist of
a single pair of Specimens ; of these the male is preserved in the Indian Museum, and the
female is to be found in the Phayre Museum, Rangoon— Ed.

90 . Indian Miseum Notes. [ Vel. Sie

A NEW CAPSID PEST.
By Mons. L. Leruterry,

Calocoris angustatus (1) Leth. nov. sp.

Valde elongatus, sordide flavescens: antennis fulvis, articulo primo

sat robusto,longitudini capitis equali,
secundo longissimo, gracili, primo —
quadruplo longiore, tertio, quarto et
quinto equalibus, gracillimis, Icngi-
tudine primo zqualibus. Pronotum
trapeziforme, punctulatum, angulis
posticis sat prominentibus, parum
acutis, leviter obtusiusculis, anticis
obtusis, margine antico collari dis-
tinctissimo, calloso, tertia parte
antica pronoti callo robusto, lato, in
medio emarginato, obtecta. Heme-
lytris flavis punctatis, parce fulvo-
pubescentibus, clavo et parte suturali
corll roseis, interdum concoloribus:
pedibus concoloribus; tibiis spinulis

nigris decen aut undecim in parte externa armatis, tarsis apice fuscis.
Long. 6—7 millim.
Forma angustata congenericis Huropeis distinctissimus.
Prov.—Madras,

(2) This insect is noticed on page 27 of No.I of this volume. It is said to injure cholum
(Sorghum vulgare) in the South Arcot District of the Madras Presidency—Kd,

No. 2. J The Mango Shoot Psylla. aq

THE MANGO SHOOT PSYLLA.

iby G. B. Bucxton, Bens:
Psylla cistellata(') n. sp.

Head small. Eyes globose and prominent. Vertex nearly straight,
with a fine vertical sature. Tumid behind the eyes. Antennz about
1th the length of the insect, each springing from the face near to the inner
margin of the eye. The 4th, 6th, and 7th jomt cylindrical, and nearly
equal in Jength. The apical joint terminated by two strong and long
sete, Combined pro-meso-and meta-notum large. Abdomen deeply corru-
gated and ringed. The dorsal part much raised. Apex of the female
terminated by a sharp cauda, composed of genetal plates, saws and rasps_
not unlike those seen in the Tettigide. The genitalia of the male,
complex. Legs stout and rather short. Tarsi with two distinct joints
terminated by blunt claws and two fine hairs. :

Membranes of the fore-wings furnished with a large, darkish, long,
stigmatic cell, from and below which runs the strong cubital nervure
which fureates at about two-thirds of its length. This furcation forms
the subcubital nervure, and shows two forks, the outer of which runs to
the margin, and the inner one nearly so, it being interrupted only by a
curved inter-marginal vein. The lower wings are very delicate, and the
neuration faint and difficult to trace.

Colour of the body shining pitchy-black, except the fore-edge of
the pronotum which is rufous yellow. The underside also is black
except the three last abdominal segments, the legs and the cauda, which
are feruginous yellow. Membrane of the wings fuscous. Antenne
fuscous, except the two apical joints which with the tarsi are black.

This insect attacks the mango (Mangifera indica) and causes the
terminal shoots of the tree to assume the form of imbricated pseudo-cones
of a bright green or yellow colour. When eut open they show a central
piliar, from which septa or curved walls proceed and form chambers
which appear to have free communication one with the other. I could
find no external openings to the two cones submitted to my inspection,

(*) A note on this species appeared on pige 13 of No. 1 of this volume. The insect
damages mango trees in Dehra Dun, North-Western Provinces, by aborting the young
shoots. The specimens were furnished by the Director of the Forest School. Mr. Buckton
writes that it may prove hereafter necessary to erect a new genus for the reception of this
species; for the present, however, he includes it in the genus Psylia, to which it is most
nearly related.

99 Indian Museum Notes. [ Vol. [ii

but I extracted several almost completely developed imagoes from the
chambers.and also the exuvize from Jarve. Probably the above insects
were hardly {ready for exclusion, and hence the ,imperforated condition
of the cones. 2
Some interest attaches to the circumstance that the Terebinthaciz

to which mango tree is referable are peculiarly open to the attacks of
gall-making insects. We have numerous examples of Pemphigine amongst
Aphides infesting the foliage of exotic species.

Size of insect 0°14 x 0°08 millemetres.

Wings 0-13.

Antenne 0:04.

oe ie eae ee

io, 2.:] Note on the Pests of the Teak tree. a3

NOTE ON PEE PESTS OF TERETE AK TRER.
By Masor C. T. Bineuam.

At page 46, No, 2, Volume XVIII of the “Indian Forester,” there
is a note by Mr, J. Nisbet, Deputy Conservator of Forests, on the damage
done to the teak plantations in the Pexu Circle by the larva of a moth.

This moth, called by Mr. Nisbet, ‘“ Zortriz (Tectone ?),’’ does not, so
far as J know, occur in Tenasserim. During the past three years, while
on tour in the forests, 1 have made careful search, and been always on
the look out, but have failed to find it. Quite recently also at my request
Mr. P. W. Healy, Extra Assistant Conservator of Fores‘s, went the round
of the whole of the teak plantations, an] over much of the natural forest
in the Ataran valley, without coming across a single teak tree attacked
by the pest.

As it was a matter of some importance to procure the moth and
have it properly identified, on the 23rd April of this year I sent aservant,
who has been used to collect insects for me, to Rangoon and by the kind
permission of Mr. Jellicoe, Deputy Conservator of Forests, in charge of
the Rangoon Forest Division, he was enabled to proezed-to the teak planta-
tions In the Magayi reserve, where the placue of caterpillars destructive
to the leaves of the teak had set im. This plague, I believe, occurs
annually in some portion or another of the Rangoon Division.

Some 50 or 60 larvae were procured by my man, who returned on the
30th.

Unfortunately I had been obliged a day or two earlier to-go eut inte
the district, and I did not return till the Gth May.

On examining the box containing the caterpillars, whieh had, aceord-
ing to directions I had left, been looked to daily and fed with fresh teak
leaves, I found that the majority had not only pupated, but that a good
number of the mths even had issued. Luckily, however, there were still
some 12 or |5 remaining in the larval state.

‘he moths I found were of two species.

Ove. a soft dark robust-bodied moth, with an expanse of 1 3 inches,

ESQ S WES DS OS ee: $
SEE DO acm 08 STORIES ON OEY,

has been identified by Mr, Cotes as a Noctues moth of the fam ly Hybleide,
B

94 Indian Museum Notes. [ Vol. I11.
eS ee te
species Hyblea puera Cramer. On the wpper side, the ground colour of
the fore. wing is ashy grey with a tinge of yellow, shaded at the base of
the wing on the disc, along the costa, and broadly along the outer margin
with soft dark brown ; hind-wing dark brown with an irregular band onthe
dise not reaching the costa, and alarge squarish mark at the anal angle ver-
milion red. Cilia of the fore-wing dark brown, of hind-wing brown with a
light wash of pink. Underside, both wings pale vermilion red turning at
the base, along the costa and on the disc of the fore-wing to yellow; an
irregular mark on the fore-wing and two spots at the anal angle of the
hind-wing, with some indistinct stadings dark brown.

The larva measures a little over one inch in length. It is whitish
yellow beneath, dusky greenish above. Along the middle of the back
is a pale flesh coloured stripe with darker smoky brown stripes one on
each side, which latter are each outwardly margined by an indistinct and
somewhat interrupted white line. Head dark brown; a few erect dark
hairs scattered over each segment,

The second species, Mr, Cotes informs
me, is new to the Indian Museum col-
lection, but that it is undoubtelly one
of the Pyrales and very close to Palzga
(Scopula) damastesalis Walker.(')

The following is a brief description of
the larva and moth.

Larva: leneth 0.7 to oneinch. Colour
pale sap-green; two lines of purplish
spots alone the middle of the back.
Head yellow; a few pale erect hairs

scattered over each seement.

Moth: expanse 09 inches. Upperside pearly white with a slight
creamy tinge; fore-wing marked along the costal aud outer margins and
across the dise with spots of red, forming on the last indistinct narrow
red cross bands; hind-winge with the outer margin narrowly edged with
the same colour, Cilia of the fore-wing alternately red and white; of the
hind-wing pure white. Underside pearly white.

The larvee that had not pupated had all turned by the fifth day after
my return. Both species seem to take the same length of time over their
metamorphosis, the moths issuing from the 8th to the llth day after
pupation.

The Hyblea formed a rather flimsy cocoon either in the corner of the
box, oralong the mid rib of a leaf, dragging the sides of the leaf slightly
together with the web. The Pyralés invariably rolled itself up in the
edye of the leaf, holding it in position by a few threads.

(') The specimens have since been submitted to Colonel C. Swinhoe, who was kindly
examined them and determimes the species as Paliga damastesalis Walker— Kd,

No, 2. ] Note on the Pest of the Teak tree. 65

My recollection (for I unfortunately have mislaid the notes I took)
of the ravages of these caterpillars when I was in charge of the Ran-
goon Division, is that they appeared in the teak plantations on or about
the 20th May, sometimes in almost incredible numbers. Their ravages
were confined to certain areas, where they re-appeared year after year
stripping the young teak of their leaves with the rapidity almost of lo-
custs, and hanging in thousands by webs to the branches of the trees.

It is quite possible that Myél@a puera may, hike the Yortria murinana
mentioned by Mr, Nisbet in paper above quoted, pupate among the dead
leaves on the ground, but, if so, I should fancy few individuals could
survive, for a plantation attacked by these pests 1s a wonderful scene of
activity. Numbers of jungle fowl, eround thrushes (Pt¢z), and iusectiv-
orous birds of all kinds crowd to the spot to feed on the caterpillars.

‘The Pyralis, as I have alrealy said, rolls up the edve of a leaf and is
thus rendered less conspicous and saved from enemies. It certainly
occurs in far greater numbers than the Hyblea puera.

MAULMAIN ;
18th June 1892.

ise)
2

96 Indian Museum Notes. | [ Vol. UT.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTRES,

In Apri! 1892 some valls found upon spruce fir (4dies Smithiana)
trees near Chakrata in the North-Western
Himalayas, were sent to the Museum by the
Director of the Dehra Dun Forest School. The galls were superficially
very much like small fir cones. They were inhabited by aphils, which are
Lelieve 1 to cause the abnormal growth by irritating the tissues of the
shoot in feeding. The insect appears to be closely aliied to the species
Chermes coceineus, Ratz., which attacks fir trees in Kurope in a similar
manner. ‘The Museum does not possess specimens of the Huropean form,

Galls ou spruce fir.

so some of the Chakrata galls have been sent to Kurope for comparison,

In an interesting communication received in May 1892, Mr. E. E.
Green writes that an ant which has been
indentified as Dury/us longicornis some-
times attack potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) to such an extent in Ceylon as
to make it impossible to grow this vegetable. Mr. Green found that the
some ant also attacks the roots of other garden plants, working so iasi-
diously that the damage usually remains undiscovered until it is too late
to save the plant. “Mr. Green suggests that the ant noticed on page 42
of Volume II of these Notes, attacking potatoes in Burma, may perhaps
have belonged to the same species. Mr, Green also forwards some scale
insects (Coccid@) found on Tasmanian apples which were being sold in
Ceylon. The scale contained hving eggs, which weuld, no doubt, in
due course have hatched out producing active larvee capable of establish-
ing themselves in any place where they happened to light upon a suit-
able plant. As Mr. Greea points out, the find is an interesting one as
showing how easily insects of this kind may be introduced from enormous
distances. The scale insect in question is likely to have been Jlyéilaspis
pomorum Bouché, which often does ouch damage in orchards. As, however,
the specimens of this species in the Museum collection are very pooy
ones, there is some little doubt about the identification, (*)

Notes from Ceylon.

With regard to the identification of the Aphid noticed on page 46
of Volume IT of these Notes as very injurious
| to the mustard (Brassica) crop in Hooghly,
Mr. G. B. Buckton, F.R.S., who has kindly examined the insect, writes °

Mustard aphid,

2 The insect has since been kindly examined by Mr. W. M. Maskell, who conirms the
identification, and notices that the species is one which attacks sex cral trees in the temperate
Zones ; it is specially common upon apple trecs and hawthorn in New Zealand,

No, 2. J Miscellaneous Notes. 97

that, so faras could be made out from the specimens forwarded, the
insect seems to be identical with the species 4phis brassicae which attacks
Sinapis «rvensis and other field crops in England. It would be desirable
to procure further specimens to enable the insect to be identified with
certainty. Itis likely to be the one noticed by Duthie and Fuller, in
their Meld and Garden Crops, as attacking Brassica compestris (rape)
and its varieties in the North-West Provinees. The following is an
extract from their valuable work (Part II, page 31) :—

* The outturn of rape is extremely precarious, or otherwise it would be much more
generally grown asa sole crop than it is, since area for area the value of a crop of
sarson would be considerably greater than that of a crop of wheat. It is, however,
peculiarly liable to the attacks of a species of blight, and in damp seasons every
plant in a field is not uncommonly covered with tiny insects (Aphides), which suek
the sap from the flowering shoots and effectually prevent any seed from growing.
Where holdings are large, as they are in the sub-Himalayan country, a cultivator can
afford to risk the total loss of the crop on a part of his land, with the chance before
him of handsome profits if the season is propitious. But in the crowded districts of
the Doab the total loss of a crop means such distress to the cultivator that he prefers to
make a certa‘nty of a moderate profit rather than run any risk in aiming ata large
one. The cultivation of rape as a sole crop in some parts of the provinces, and as a
subordinate crop in other parts, is therefore explained by a difference in the density
of population.”

In March 1892 Mr. J. Mollison, Superintendent of Farms, Bombay
Et daiising pottio wants Presidency, forwarded specimens of a. cricket
which had proved destructive to potato plants
in Khandesh, by cutting through the stems near the surface of the
eround. ‘The msect was found to le indentical with specimens in the
Museum colleetion which have
been determined by Dr. Henri de
Sanssure as Leogrvllus bimacu.
latus DeGeer (Gryllida), a species
| which has not previously been
noticed as destructive in India.
Crickets of this kind ave ve y
| difficult to deal with; flooding the
| land to bring them to the surface,
| where the birds can get at them,
| may be useful in cases where it is
: prac ieable , while dressinz the
land with gas lime soot and such
fertilisers as Aarnit might perhaps
be worth trymg, though there is
little evidence to show that they
do mueh gocd.

98 Inaian Museum Notes. [ Vor iit

In April 1892 Mr. A, V. Knyvets forwarded specimens of a moth,
the caterpillar of which had been noticed as
attacking castor-oil plants (Rzemmus commu-
wis) inthe Sonthal Pergunnals. ‘The specimens were in too poor a state
of preservation for satisfactory examination, but, as far as could be made
out, they were identical with sj ecimens in the Museum collection which
have been determined as belongme to the species Conogethes puncti-
Jferalis Guén, ‘She caterpillar attacks the seeds and is said to have done
a large amount of damage.

Castor-oil seed caterpillar.

In March 1892 Mr. J. Mollison, Superintendent of Farms, Bombay,
forwarded pods of Bombay hemp (Crote/aria »
juncea) tunnelled by the larve of a micro-
lepidopterous insect. Mr. Mollison wrote that the inseet had been very
destructive in Baroda in the months of October and November, a third
of the pods kept for seed beine affected.
When full-fed the caterpillars spun them-
selves up into little silken cocoons, which,
in the case of the ones reared in the
Museum, were attached to the sides of the
box in which the pods were placed. It
is pro! able, therefore, that the habit of
the insect is to desert the pods before
spinning its cocoon. Moths emerged in the early part of April; they
prove to be Phycide, but the species is new tothe Museum collection, so
specimens have been sent to Kurope for precise identification. (1)

Crotalaria Juncea caterpillar.

In April 1892 some cut worms and Elateride larve, said to have
proved destructive to potato plants in Kalim-
pone, Darjeeling, were received from Babu
N.G. Mukharji. The insects were too immature for precise identification,
but the cut worms were likely to have belonged to the species Agrotzs
suffusa Faby. (Noctues) a species which was reared on a previous occasion
in the Museum from caterpillars which proved destructive to potato plants
in Kurseong. Kerosene emulsion was tried by Babu Mukharji, but the
results, though encouraging, dé not seem to have been at all conclusive.
At the time that the emulsion was applied very few stems had been cut,
though numerous grubs were to be found at the foot of each plant ;
after the emulsion had been applied, Babu Mukharji found that more

Potato pests in Sikkim.

(') The insect has since been kindly examined by the well known entomologist Mr, F.
Moore, who identifies it as the species Mellia zinckenella (Phycis zinckenella Vrict.) a not
uncommon Phycid in Europe, India, and Ceylon.

No. 2. | Miscellaneous Notes. 99

than three-fourths of the plants died, but the grubs disappeared and
the plants that remained seemed vigorous; so it is possible that the
plants which died were merely those which had previously been injured
by the grubs, It should he noticed, however, that Kerosene emulsion is
not usually recommended for use against cut worms or Elateride larve
in other parts of the world. In India hand-picking seems to be the only
method that has hitherto been adopted for fighting these classes of
insects, which live chiefly underground. In England ploughing gas
lime into the land when the crop is off the ground has been recommended
against similar insects, while such dressings as soot, guano, nitrate of
soda, salt, and rape dust are all said to be useful.

In January 1892 a few specimens of the white wax insect Ceroplasfes
ceriferus Anderson, were forwarded to the
Museum by Mr. J. Deveria, who wrote that
if was plentiful on trees in Purulia. This is of interest in case more
specimens of the insect are wanted in connection with the inquiry dealt
with in Volume II, No. 3, of the:e Notes.

White insect wax.

In March 1892 specimens of the rice sapper (Leptocorisa acuta
Thunb.) were forwarded to the Museum by
Major Yerbury from Trincomali in Ceylon,
where the insect was said to have proved destructive to the rice crop.

The rice sapper in Ceylon.

In April 1892 an insect was received through the kindness of Messrs,
A supposed enemy to the tea Barry & Co., with the information that 1 was
pleas | thought to h ive been the cause of some damage
to tea bushes in Cachar. The insect proves to be one of the Curculionide
beetles. It is identical with a specimen in the Museum collection which
has been determined as Astycus chrysochlorus Wied. It had been for-
warded by Mr, John Leekie of Cachar, who was of opinion that it wag
responsible for the stripping of the young leaves off the tea shoots, noticed
in several parts of the garden. The insect is not unlikely to feed on
the young tea shoots, but it has not previously been reported in this
connection, and is not expected to occasion much injury,

The Brinjal (Solanum Melongena) fruit, which is brought to the
Calcutta market, is sometimes found to be at-
tacked by the caterpillar of a microlepidop-
terous insect which bores into it much in the way that the caterpillar of
the coddling moth bores into apples. Caterpillars of the brinjal borer
obtained on the 26th Apcl 1892 began to emerge, in the Museum, as

Brinjal borer,

100 Indian Museum Notes. [ Vol cit:

EEE

moths on the 5th of Mav. In the case of one at least of the specimens,
7 | the caterpillar, when fuil fed, seems to have
| deserted the fruit and spun itself up into a
very slight silken coecon upon the side of

the cage, and this is likely to be the general
habit of the insect, though it would be as
well to observe further specimens before con-
cluding that the habit is an invariable one.

5 (The moth proves to be indentical with some
specimens in the Museum collection, which have been determined by
Colonel Swinhoe as Leneinodes orbonalts Guén,. (Pyrales). This species has
been recorded as occurring in all parts of Northern India; also in
Burma, Ceylon, the Andaman Islands, Java, and South Africa,

7

In July 1891 some Orthopterons insects were forwarded to the
Museum by the Deputy Commissioner of
the Shahpur District, Punjab. ‘They were
of two kinds known respectively as Zola and Tir7dda. Both species
were said to be exceptionally numerous in Shahpur, where they had
done considerable damage to the young summer erops. The Joka
insect’ proved to be a ericket allied to the yenus Gryllodes, but hiiherto

Orthoptera in Shahpur.

unnamed in the Museum collection. It has, therefore, been sent to Kuro; e
‘for identification. According to the reports furnished by the district
officers this insect sometimes does much damave to young bajra(Peunzsetum
typhowdeum), jowar (Sorghum vulgare), cotton (Gossypium herbaceum)
and other crops, bothin Shahpur and also in Hissar where it is known by
the same name. Itappears in the latter part of April. During the day
time it generaliy hes hidden in the ground, but in the cool of the evening
it comes out and feeds upon the young plants, but does little damage
after the crop is four or five inches in height. It disappears in the latter
part of the rainy season. With regard to the life history of erickets of
this kind little has yet been observed in India, but in the ease of allied
species in the United States, according to Comstock (Latroduction to
Entomology) the eggs are usually laid in the ground in autumn. They
hateh in the following spring, and the insects mostly die off on the ap-
proach of winter. With regard to remedies, too little is yet known to
enable any very definite treatment to be reeommenied, but breaking up
the ground in the cold weather would seem likely te be useful, as it
would expose the eggs, both to their natural enemies the birds, and also
to the extremes of temperature, which would probably be unfavourable to
hatehing. The Tiridda insect proves to be an Acridid grasshopper or the
genus Chrotogonus, which has been referred to on several occasions in these

Wol, Qiu Miscellancous Notes. 101

Notes asa common pest to young indigo (Indigofera tinctorta) and other
erops in vartous parts of India. Little is known of its habits, and no
satisfactory means of dealing with it seems yet to have been recorded.

In the Kew Butletin for April 1892 is an interesting note on the

eer perforaus. subject of the little Seolytid beetle Xyleborus
perforans Wollaston which has recently been

reported as attacking growing sugar-canes in the West Indies. The
species was originally described by Wollaston from specimens found per-
forating the bungs of wine casks at Madeira. In South America it has
been recorded as boring into rum easks, also as frequenting cane refuse
and rotting vegetable matter, and as attracted by lights at night. In
India it has been noticed as boring into beer casks.(') The danger now
is that it may take to attacking growing sugar-cane in India to a serious
extent as it is said to have already done in the West Indies. With re-
gard to remedies the Editors of the Kew Bulletin write :—

Ce

There should be no ditiiculty experienced by intelligent planters in the West In-
dies in dealing with this cane-borer. The infested canes should be destroyed, either
by burning or passing through the rollers of the cane mills. Care should be devoted to
the selection of ‘ plant’ canes, to ensure that they are freefrom the grubs and eggs
of the beetle, and precautions should be taken to get rid of all the cane refuse in a decay -
ed state in the neighbourhood of the cultivated fields. In other respects the same steps
are Necessary with this borer as have been found effective in the case of the moth borer.
This latter has been known to attack sugar-canes at intervals for nearly sixty years, (?)
but its influence has been rendered comparatively harmless by the systematic destruc-
tion of infested canes, and by examining and dressing the ‘plant’ canes before they

are put into the fields. ‘These simple and effective methods are fortunately within the
reach of every one.”

Q)It was at first supposed to belong to the genus Zomicus, and the commissariat serjeants
are said to have appropriately dubbed it “'Tippling Tommy.” In his report on Insects de-
structive to fo: ests, Allahabad 1868, Mr. R. Thompson writes: ‘‘I believe this to be a species
of Tomicus, a minute cylindrical species I have observed boring into beer and water casks ;
as they bore clean through the wood, the liquor may be seen jetting out at various points,
and hy the force of the discharge the little borers are thrown out with it.”

v7]

(*) Vide the account of this insect given in Volume I, page 22, of these Noftes.

102 Indian Museum Notes. L Vole I,

The figure is drawn from a specimen from the: West Indies presented
to the Museum by Mr. W. F. H. Blandford. The length of the speci-
men is about two and a half millimetres. Its colour is hght chestnut
brown. The legs and antenne in the figure are merely dotted in to give
an idea of their probable shape, for the setting of the specimen does not
permit of an accurate drawing being made of these appendages, and it
has been thought best not to run the risk of damaging the specimen by
disarranging it for the purpose as it is at present unique in the Museum
collection. The markings shownin the figure on the prothorax and cly-
tra will probably be sufficient to enable the insect to be recognized when
met with in sugar-cane, but it should be noticed that there area large
number of very similar, though distinct insects, to be found boring into
the bark of trees in India.

An interesting summary of what is known on the subject of the Fun-

Fungoid disease versus gold disease (Lsarda densa Link. = Botrytis
Melolonthini larvee. tenella Saccardo) which attacks Melolonthin

Jarvee is given in the April number of the periodical Insect Life. The
large amount of damage which is done by Melolonthini larve or “ white
erub ” in India makes the question of the practicability of utilising this
disease for destroying the pest, an important one, but the evidence at
present available on the subject is very contradictory. According to M.
Alfred Giard’s paper in the Comptes Rendus of the 38rd August 1891, the’
spores retain their germinating powers for more than a year and the dis- .
ease can be readily communicated not only to Melolonthini larve but
also to other insects which live in a similar manner in damp situations.
According, however, to M.JeanDufour’s paper inthe Chronzqua Agricole
Viticole et Lorestier du Canton du Vaux, November 10th i891, though the
disease can be disseminated toa certain extent by infecting the soil
either with artificial cultures or with fragments of diseased insects, the
number of fresh grubs which take the disease is very limited.

E. C. COTES,
CaLcuTra, Deputy Superintendent,
25th June 1892. ludian Museum.

Govt. of India Central Printing Office.—No. 441 R. & A. (113).—6-4-95.—1,000.—R. B.

ops Ant
nt ST TROLS
_e 9

an

P

WOMAN UN
3 9088 01570 6633