94 SCIENTIFIC REPORTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



individual caught in Shillong about 15th June and brought 

 to Pusa, lived in the Insectary until 15th October. 



Linda nigroscutata, Fairm. (Lamiadse), was found at 

 Shillong where the adults occur fairly commonly on apple 

 trees in June and July, and were generally found resting 

 on the shoots or leaves and occasionally feeding on the 

 latter. In captivity the beetles fed on the leaves and also* 

 on the bark of apple twigs, but did not oviposit. Under 

 natural conditions, however, the beetle girdles the twig more 

 or less (usually rather less) completely, makes a slit at right 

 angles to the girdling and above it, slightly detaches the 

 bark on one side of this slit and thrusts in an egg under 

 this loosened bark. The larva on hatching bores upwards 

 into the twig and thrusts its longish pellets of frass out 

 through holes cut in the twig, which of course dies off and 

 shrivels up. This is a serious pest, doing considerable 

 damage. The only control method possible is hand-collec- 

 tion of the beetles and cutting out of attacked twigs. No- 

 alternative foodplant is known as yet. 



Chelidonium cinctum, Guer. (Cerambycidse), was sent 

 in from Bangalore by Mr. R. D. Anstead who found the 

 larva boring into orange branches. The eggs are deposited 

 in June in the axils of young living twigs and never on 

 dead wood or old branches. The young larva bores into' 

 the twig and works upwards for a distance of about half- 

 an-inch to an inch-and-a-half and then makes two tiny holes 

 about the size of a pin's head; it then turns back and bores 

 down the twig, occasionally making small openings; finally 

 it gets into the main branches where it makes tunnels a 

 quarter of an inch in diameter. The young twigs that 

 are bored at once die and turn black, so that they are- 

 conspicuous and can be cut off with the larva inside them. 

 By doing this and by hand-collection of the adults the 

 attack can be controlled to a large extent. 



Oxyambulyrc sericeipennis, Butl. (Sphingidae), occur- 

 red in some numbers at Shillong in July 1918 on walnut, 

 each larva defoliating considerably, so that the damage may 

 be fairly large in the case of young trees. 



