TEOCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 375 



Pupation takes place inside the stem. Before pupating, the larva 

 gnaws an opening on the side of the stem, the mouth of the opening 

 being just covered by a thin epidermal layer of the bark. The pupa 

 is provided with a snout having spines on its tip with which to pierce 

 this epidermal covering. The pupa wriggles out to some extent before 

 the moth bursts out of the pupal case. 



Sesamia infer ens. 



Plate 36. 



Foodplants — Rice ; wheat ; barley ; oats ; mania {Eleusine coracana) ; 

 sama {Pankum irumentaceum); Guinea grass ; Sudan grass; Jove 

 grass {RottbaUia cotnpressa) ; golmootha {Scifjms afpnis) ; narJcat 

 {Phragmites karka) ; sugarcane ; maize ; juar {Andro'pogon Sorghum) ; 

 kanra {Sacchariim arundinaceum) ; rarhi and batri {Saccharum 

 spontaneum) ; ikri {Saccharum fuscum). 



Caterpillars have been collected from the above plants. Besides 

 these, they have fed in the Insectary on bajra (Pennisetum tyjjhoideum) 

 stems. In Madras they are known to occur in Setaria italica. 



The caterpillars of Sesamia inferens, S. unijormis and the moth 

 reared under C. S. 1666 are liable to be confused, as all of them are 

 similar in appearance. Those of C. S. 1666 are more slender-looking 

 than the larvae of the Sesamia spp. and have a faint purplish tinf^e. 

 The larvae of the two species of Sesamia cannot yet be distinguished. 

 The pupa of C. S. 1666 (Plate 38, fig. 1) can be easily distinguished as it 

 has no hair or spine on its hind end. The pupae of Sesamia inferens 

 and S. uniformis are liable to be confused but can be distinguished by 

 the structure of, and the spines on, the hind end (PI, 37, f. 3). The hind 

 end of the pupa of ;S. inferens is rounded and has four spines on a dis- 

 tinct stalk. The hind end of S. uniformis pupa is protruded into a 

 horny process concave on the ventral side and having four spines arrang- 

 ed on its tip at some distance apart and two more spines behind the first 

 four, i.e., six spines in all. The moths of S. inferens and S. uniformis 

 are liable to be and have been confused in the past. They can be dis- 

 tinguished easily by the trained eye from the shape of the forewings 

 (Plate 37, figs. 1 , 2) and also from the structure of the male antennse 

 as indicated in Entomological Note No. 62 of Pusa Bulletin No. 59. 



In the neighbourhood of Pusa S. inferens is active throughout the 

 year, active caterpillars being available in all the months of the year. 

 Also the larvae are observed to pupate and adults to emerge throughout 

 the cold weather. In the cold season however the period of the hfe- 

 cycle is very much extended. In ordinary years, in March, April and 



