446 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[December i, 1884. 



The male, at the close of the pupal rest, escapes from 

 one end of this singular covering, but the female makes it 

 her dwelling for life; moving about with it at pleasure, 

 and entrenching herself within it, when alarmed, by draw- 

 ing together the purse-like aperture at the open end. 

 Of these remarkable creatures there are five ascertained 

 species in Ceylon: Psyche Doubledaii, Westw.; Metisd 

 Plana, Walker ; Eumeta Cramerii, Westw.; E. Templetonii, 

 Westw. ; and Cryptothelea consorta, Temp. 



(From Westwood.) 

 The genera Oiketicus and Psyche are remarkable for 

 the habit which their larva? have of constructing for them- 

 selves portable cases of bits of grass and sticks or leaves' 

 in which they reside, and undergo their transformations. 

 The transformations of these insects are especially interest- 

 ing, and the females are entirely apterous, being in fact 

 the most imperfect of all Lepidopterous insects; and even 

 less favoured than their larvfe, which they considerably 

 resemble. I possess some very singular cases, formed by 

 exotic species of these genera. The male larva of Psyche, 

 previously to assuming the pup* state, fastens its case by 

 the mouth to the surface of leaves and stems of plants ; 

 the larva then turns, so that its head is pointed towards 

 the opposite aperture, out of which the pupa half pushes 

 itself before becoming an imago : the females, on the 

 other hand, never leave their cases ; and from some ob- 

 servations made by Ochsenheimer and Iugpen (Steph. 

 Illiistr. Haust. 2. p. 81.), it would appear that these 

 females produce fertile eggs without fecundation. — The re- 

 lation of these insects with the iEgerire seems confirmed 

 by the Sphinx ephemerafornris, an insect which Mr. Steph- 

 ens has formed into the genus Thyridopteryx, next to 

 Psyche. {Trans. Entomol. Soc. vol. i. p. 76.) M. Ilambur 

 has described another genus, under the name of Hetero- 

 gynis, which seems intermediate between Psyche and Pen- 

 tbophera, agreeing with the former in the general appear- 

 ance of the male, and the apterous inert female ; but hav- 

 ing a naked larva, which makes a cocoon somewhat like 

 that of Anthrocera. (Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1836, pi. 17., 

 and Fauna Andahis. vol. ii. pi. 14.) 



(From the " Lcpidoptera of Ceylon" pp. 101-107.) 

 Family Psychid.e. 



(1) Eumeta Cramerii plate 118, fig 1, male, la. larval 

 case), p. 102. Oiketicus Oramerii, Westwood; Crypto- 

 thelea consorta, Walker; Eumeta Nietnieri, Felder. 

 Larval case covered with slender twigs of irregular 

 length, which are disposed longitudinally side by side in 

 a somewhat spiral form. 



(2) Eumeta Layardii (plate 118, fig. 2, male 2a, larval 

 case), p. 102. Eumeta Cramerii, Walker, not Westwood. 

 Larval case covered with stoutish twigs, which are dis- 

 posed side by side in a regular longitudinal form. 



(3) Bamlmlina consorta, (plate IIS, fig. 3, male, 3a, larval 

 case), p. 103. OiHticvs (Cryptothelea) consorta, Templeton. 

 Larval case of a lengthened conical shape, formed of 

 compact greyish-white silk, occasionally witli a few part- 

 icles of twigs on the surface. " Larva feeds on Pamplemoa 

 bush (Citrus decumana)." — "Templeton." 



(4) Duppda Templetonii (plate 188, fig. 6, male, 6a, 

 larval case), p. 101. Oiketicus tertius, Templeton ; Oiketicus 

 Templetonii, Westwood ; Eumeta Templetonii, Walker. 

 La'-val case bluntly fusiform, silky, naked. " Larva feeds 

 on Citrus deeumaaa." — Templeton. 



(5) Manatha albipese, Moore (plate 118, fig. 4, male, 

 4a, larval case), p. 105. Larval case conical, small silky, 

 slightly covered with pieces of thin bark or lichen, the 

 specimen under examination having the heads of six (or 

 more) young larv;e protruding from the upper end, one 

 (the largest) from an extended sack in the middle, the 

 others from separate sack-like openings below, and around 

 the upper one ; from the larva end of this same example 

 protrudes the empty pupa case from which the perfect 

 insect (? female) had escaped. 



(6) Metisa plana, Walker (plate 118, fig. 9, male), 

 p. 105. [A tiny moth only.— W. F.] 



(7) Cltalia Doubledauii, Moore (plate 118, fig. 5, male 

 5n, larval case), p. 116'. Oiketicus DoubUdayii, Westwood ; 

 Psyche Doubledayii, Walker. Larval case slender, silky, 

 with a few very thin twigs arranged longitudinally on 

 the surface. 



(8) Aprata Thwaitesii, Moore (plate 118, fig. 7, male, 

 la, larval case), p. 107. The larva constructs a small flattened 

 hiliciform [shell-like.— W. F.] case. "Feeds on Eugenia 

 (Syzyyium) caryophyllosum " (Thwaites). 



(9) Aprata Mackmoodii, Moore (plate 118, fig. 8, male), 

 p. 107. [This is the type of the genus. A tiny moth only. — 

 W. F.j In the original descriptions of some of these by 

 Mr. Moore in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 

 the Hon. Mr. Mackwood, one of the most industrious col- 

 lectors of Ceylon Lepidoptera, is acknowledged as the 

 authority for the specimens described, but in the Ceylon 

 Lepidoptera, which are reproduced from drawings made by 

 Mr. Ahvis, the draughtsman of the Koyal Botanic Gardens, 

 Peradeniya, under the inspection of the late Dr. Thwaites, 

 no reference is made to the authority for the original 

 specimens from which the genera and species were de- 

 scribed. 



" In the foregoing I have copied the names and syn- 

 onyms and the authorities for them, leaving out the 

 references to the works in which they were separately 

 described." 



TEA CULTIVATION AND ITS ENEMIES. 

 From the fear excited in some quarters at the least re- 

 ference to an actual or possible enemy of any one 

 of our new products, it would almost seem as if 

 merchants and other capitalists interested in Ceylon 

 h'.d forgotten the absolute conditiou under which 

 agriculture all over the world, in its broad aspects, 

 must be carried on. " In the sweat of thy face " is the 

 condition of cultivating the soil given in the old Book, 

 and it is true still, whatever exceptions there may 

 be in oocisional rich returns out of all proportion to 

 the labour bestowed and the capital risked. At the 

 same time if there be that hard condition of labour 

 in the old Book, no less clear is the promise there 

 of seed time and harvest never failing. No doubt the 

 experience of the coffee fungus has been a most ter- 

 rible, even ruiuous, one and men do pay attention 

 to the proverb of " once bitten, twice shy." But 

 why, because coffee is affected iu Ceylon, it should be 

 supposed that cacao, tea and other products are 

 bound to fall after the same fashion uuder the first 

 euemy which may be reported as troubling them, it 

 is impossible to see. In fact the argument ought to 

 bo the other way. Surely, it is not in the order ot pro- 

 vidence or natural laws that a country afflicted with 

 a dire pest peculiar to one product, should be visited 

 with other similar pests on whatever new pro- 

 ducts may be started ? It was rightly argued in con- 

 nection with Hemileia wastatrrx that never iu history 

 had a great agricultural industry been killed out by 

 a fungus 'or ocher enemy, and this may be proved 

 true yet even in the case of Ceylon ; but still more 

 unheard-of is it that a variety of agricultural imhis- 

 tries should be supposed to be liable in one 

 and the same country, to insidious and absol- 

 utely fatal blights. And yet we are aware that 

 at the least reference to the discovery in Ceylon of 

 an euemy of ciuchoua, cacao or tea, the London 

 capitalist is apt to button up his coat, shake his 

 head and declare he will have nothing more to do 

 with this Colony and its new or old enterprises! 

 We found a London merchant (with Ceylon experience 

 too) only a few months ago bent on stopping all 

 work in cacao planting, because of a single mail's 

 budget with the reports of an enemy and the 

 work it had done. At the same time our friend 

 was jubilant over his tea crops and sales. But 

 when another mail reaches " the City " with the 

 news of "Helopeltis" and " Ked Spider," very 

 possibly the cry will be: — "No more expenditure on 

 tea extension, — ' ca' canny'; let us see about this 

 new enemy (another fatal fungus in disguise perhaps) " .' 

 Now we should like such fearful, unbelieving and 

 illogical individuals to invest in a copy of " Nietner's 



