874 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



The scorpions did not use their stings or tails for any purpose whatsoever 

 — these were well curled over their backs, but their claws in front were 

 constantly spread out to catch and embrace all that came within striking 

 distance. 



I also noticed that there were many Santal and Kol women willing to 

 kill the scorpions, and collect them — if allowed by me — as they said a good 

 oil, useful to be rubbed on for aches and pains in joints, could be extracted 

 from their bodies. I preferred, however, watching these dreaded insects 

 at their shikar game to seeing them killed — and all one heard when the 

 nest was once more normal and showed no signs of life was "Bab-ra-bab- 

 kitta bichoo " — "My father, how many scorpions," — and that was all one 

 could say — for never have 1 seen so many scorpions in one particular spot. 



Evidentlj' the sandy yellow clay soil, and also the lateritic soil all round 

 here, harbours hundreds of scorpions, centipedes and snakes, as 1 have 

 come across more than one usually sees elsewhere in India. 



The Indians of these parts, who were watching the nest with me, stated 

 that it was the turn of the scorpion now, as he was eating the white ants, 

 but a time would come when the white ants would cluster all round and 

 eat the scorpion, and that it was usual for this to happen, but I have no 

 convincing evidence. 



C. H. DRACOTT. 



Jamshedpur, 24iA June 1919. 



No. XL.— NOTES ON SOME NEW AND OTHER INDIAN 



DRAGONFLIES. 



^SeHNID^. 



Subfamily -<9^]schnin^. 



1. Hemianax ephippiyer, Morton, Trans. Ent. Soc, London, 1907. 



The breeding places of this insect in India are small tanks and reservoirs, 

 usually of considerable depth and rich in water weed. The greater number 

 emerge as the imago, during the month of April. I noticed over one 

 hundred exuvite clinging to a small tuft of reeds in a tank at Poona, the 

 tank measuring only about 15 feet either way and its waters swarming with 

 the full grown larvse. A large number of these were collected and emerged 

 in the next few days, the greater number being males. 



There were a few isolated specimens of Anax gtdtatus amongst them. 



Females of these dragonflies are rarely seen on the wing and are much 

 more easily obtained by breeding out the larviB. It is quite easy to dis- 

 tinguish the sexes in the last instar of the larvae as development of the 

 genital organs is well advanced and moulded on the ventral plates of the 

 abdomen. The females may be picked out and males, if not wanted, can 

 be restored to their watery habitat. Another advantage of this method is 

 that teneral specimens have the gut and ovaries empty and so no decom- 

 position goes on after death and the colours do not fade. Colour develops 

 very rapidly in the -/Eschnidse, the species quoted above emerging at about 

 1 1 o'clock at night and having a good display of colour by the hovir of dawn. 

 Even before they emerge from the pupa case, the colour of the insect may be 

 seen showing through, especially the blue at the proximal end of the abdo- 

 men. I found that the percentage of exuvise worked out as 2 to 1, male and 

 female respectively, so that the scarcity of females is real and not apparent. 



2. Orogomphus xanthe-ptera, sp. nov. 



1 2, Madura District, South India, Mr. Prater, 1917. Type specimen in 

 the Bombay Natural History Museum. 



