FAMILY SCARABAEIDAE 



n 



more especially the mid-rib and sometimes the young shoot. The parts 

 attacked turn brown, and on the mid-rib and shoot a scar is left, and the 

 woody portions become subsequently affected. I am inclined to suspect that 

 this damage is done by a small beetle allied to the Rose beetle; for, though 

 I have never found this on the mahogany, it is plentiful on the neighbour- 

 ing blackwood trees, where it damages the flower and flower-stalks in a 

 similar manner. I notice that it emits a black fluid, which appears to be 

 injurious to the leaves." 



Lepidiota. 

 Lepidiota bimaculata, Saund. 



References. — Saund. Trans. Ent. Soc. ii, 176 t. 16, f. 2 (1839); Burm. Handb. iv, 2, 294 ; Gem. Har. Cat. 

 Coleopt. iv, 1163; Griffithi, Hope, Trans. Ent. Soc. iii, 62 (1841). 



Habitat. — Assam. Also reported from Sikkim, Naga Hills, Khyok- 

 phow. 



Tree Attacked — Sal {SJiorea vohiista). Assam. 



Beetle. — A large beetle. Head, prothorax, and 



pygidium dull green, elytra brown, dull or slightly shining ; 

 under-surface black, clothed with 

 Description. a short greenish-yellow pubes- 



cence. Legs black. Head nar- 

 rower than prothorax, dull, punctate, Prothorax wider 



than broad, sides curved and finely serrate ; finely 



punctate. Scutellum large, heart-shaped, finely punctate. 



Elytra convex, finely punctate, widest medianly, basal 



angles rounded, constricting from middle gradually to 



apex, latter truncate ; pygidium depressed. Anterior 



tibiae broad and three-spined. Under-surface convex, 



shining where pubescence has been rubbed off. Length, 



46 mm. to 57 mm. ; breadth, 24 mm. to 29 mm. 



I took specimens of this insect in May 



in the Assam sal forests. 



Life History. The beetles were noticed 



sitting on leaves and twigs 



of sal-trees, and one specimen was seen to 



be feeding on the leaf parenchyma, eating 



out holes in the leaf. I know nothing further about its life historv 



Fig. 41. — Lepidiota bijnaculata, 

 vSaund. Assam. 



Lachnosterna. 

 Lachnosterna (Holotricha) problematica, Brenske. 



Keference. — Brenske, Ind. Mus. Xot. iv, p. 178 (1899). 



Habitat.- — ^United Provinces Sal Forests. Also reported from Srinagar. 



Trees Attacked. — Sal {Shorea robusta) : Horai, Kumaun, and Gorakhpur; 

 Terminalia bclcrica, Jaman {Eugenia jambolama) : Gorakhpur (A. E. 

 Osmaston). 



