GROUNDNUT PESTS. l47 



the pod ; having eaten one seed they move down the pod and eat in 

 opposite another. The species is known from every continent and has 

 become extraordinarily omnivorous. 



There is no trustworthy record of tliis species behaving- as a surface 

 caterpillar or ' cutworm/ though it is possible it may do so ; nor does it 

 often appear to come in largo swarms and move from field to field. It may 

 be characterised as a pod and fruit caterpillar becoming a typical leaf-eating 

 caterpillar only when it must do so. 



It is doubtful if any further treatment than hand-picking is ever 

 possible or desirable except in cases of bad attack on small areas of 

 experimental cultivation, where spraying may be necessary. The cater- 

 pillars are large and should certainly be hand-picked in early gram and 

 opium in order to prevent the later brood from being very large. 



Minor Pests of Groundnut. 



Groundnut is on the whole fairly immune from insect pests but is injured 

 by hairy caterpillars (pages 161-62) . These caterpillars have a predilection 

 for groundnut, and where they are abundant will destroy a field in a very 

 short time. In districts where hairy caterpillars are found, the crop should 

 be protected. Another common insect which likes the groundnut is the big 

 cricket, whose habits are described elsewhere (page 224). 



A small black caterpillar webs up the leaves and lives within the webbed 

 shoot; this is not destructive but is likely to be thought a serious pest. 

 White-ants greedily attack groundnut and may be a very serious pest. The 



Fig. 165. 

 Moth of Q roundnut Hairy Cater fiUar. (Magnified txvice) 



J.2 



