420 OrtheziincE. 



developed legs, which it can use when disturbed, though it usually remains 

 quiescent beneath its woolly covering. 



More or less omnivorous, but showing some preference for plants belonging 

 to the Natural Orders Acanthacecr, Verbenacecr, and Conipositce. Though occa- 

 sionally found upon outlying bushes, it has — at present — failed to establish 

 itself as a serious pest of either Tea or Coffee. It has found a congenial host- 

 plant in the common Lantana (Z. mixta) which, though not a native of Ceylon, 

 has become widely established throughout the island, with the result that the 

 insect is locally known as the ' Lantana Bug.' In flower gardens the 

 following plants are particularly subject to attack : — Crossandra, Jiisticia, 

 Thunbergia, Meyenia, StacJiytarpheta, Dtiranta^ Habrof/iaiiimis, Coleus, Salvia, 

 Ircsine, Cicphea, &c. Though this pest does not necessarily kill the plants, it 

 destroys their vitality and renders them most unsightly by reason of the thick 

 growth of sooty fungus that invariably accompanies its attacks. The partiality 

 of the insect for Lantana has led to the idea that it would prove to be an 

 efficient check to the extension of this troublesome weed. I have received 

 several applications from other countries asking for consignments of living 

 * Lantana bugs ' to combat the Lantana pest. I have always discouraged such 

 experiments. Apart from the fact that the insect does not kill the Lantana, even 

 when the plant is heavily infested, its polyphagous habits and its apparent 

 freedom from natural enemies make it a most undesirable alien to bring into 

 any country. 



Natural enemies may possibly exist in the native country of Orthesia 

 insignis ; but, so far, the career of the pest in Ceylon has been unchecked by 

 any such causes. Birds ignore it, and I have not found a single insect parasite 

 — external or internal — preying upon it. I have tried to induce various species 

 of ladybird beetles to feed upon it, but they all preferred starvation. 



The appearance of Orthesia insignis in Ceylon, dates from January, 1893, 

 when a serious outbreak occurred in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya. 

 The plague was reputed to have originated from infected plants that arrived in 

 a Wardian Case from Kew ; but the Kew authorities strenuously repudiated 

 the possibility of any such introduction. Since then, the pest has steadily 

 increased in strength and extended its range. Though at first confined to the 

 neighbourhood of Kandy, it was not many years before other districts were 

 invaded, and it is now widely distributed up to an elevation of about 4000 feet. 



The original home of Orthezia insignis is a matter of some doubt. The 

 species was first described from specimens collected in the plant houses of the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where it found a congenial home. Its intro- 

 duction to Kew was attributed to British Guiana, where it is now known to occur 

 in an apparently wild condition. It has been reported from Trinidad, Jamaica, 

 Antigua, Mexico, Brazil, China, Mauritius, Italy, and, quite recently, has been 

 observed in Madeira. In the United States it has become a common green- 

 house pest, and it has been recognised in South Africa for at least a quarter of 

 a century. 



There appears to be a constant succession of broods. I have examined 

 infected plants at all times of the year, and have always found the insects in 

 every stage, from the newly hatched larva to the adult female. I have kept 

 isolated females under observation. After the first commencement of the 

 formation of the ovisac, a period of three weeks elapses before the emergence 

 of the first larva, after which the young insects hatch out at the rate of about 



