132 FAMILY BOSTRYCHIDAE 



Larva.— Vcllowish-white, corrugated, curved. Mouth parts brownish, mandibles black. 

 Thoracic segments greatly enlarged, swollen, forming almost a hood over head anteriorly. 

 Three pairs of thoracic legs, anterior pair three-jointed, robust and long ; posterior pairs less 

 stout. Abdominal segments not swollen, narrower than thoracic ones, forming almost a 

 "waist ■' where they join thorax, but slightly broadening behind. Length, 3.2 mm. 



Pupa.— Prothorax large, the head bent right over and under prothorax, the mouth parts 

 lying pressed against the hind thoracic and anterior abdominal segments. Head and 

 prothorax dirty white ; the ten-jointed antennae and legs distinguishable. Abdominal 

 segments yellow, wings white, bent round on underside of body. Length, 3 mm. 



This beetle has three, four, or more broods in the year, and these 



generations overlap to some extent. Eggs appear to 



Life History. be laid by the beetle in the cold weather in December 



or January, or perhaps in November, the colder months 



of the year being passed in the egg stage. The female tunnels into the 



bamboo for egg-laying purposes, and pairs with the male inside the bamboo. 



The larvae hatch out in March in North India, probably earlier in the 



hotter and damper parts of the country, and feed upon the woody tissue 



of the bamboo, mining up and down in the interior and converting the 



woody material into a mass of sawdust. When full-fed the grub eats out 



a little cradle in the woody tissue and pupates in this. On maturing the 



beetle either crawls out of the bamboo through one of the entrance-tunnels 



of the parents, which it may enlarge if necessary, or it tunnels out by the 



most direct way to the outside. 



This first generation of the year issues from bamboos some time in May 

 in North India and late in April in Calcutta ; a second generation issues in 

 July (June in Calcutta); a third early in September (August in Calcutta); 

 a fourth in November (October in Calcutta), and a fifth in Calcutta and 

 similar localities towards the end of November or first half of December, 



D. pilifrons is the common bamboo-borer of the northern part of India. 

 Series of experiments were carrried out on several occasions with bamboos 

 cut in the forests of the United Provinces. Thousands of 

 beetles were bred out, in every case proving to be D.pilifyons. 

 The work of this insect is very similar to that of its 

 ofttimes companion or replacer D. minutus, the next species, 

 and the damage done, etc., will be discussed under that 

 insect. 



Tarsostenus uniYittatus, Rossi (p. 188) — Elongate, narrow, 

 rather flat. Black, shining; elytra crossed just above the middle by a trans- 

 verse half-moon shaped band which does not 

 Predaceous Insects. quite reach suture. Head finely punctate. Pro- 

 thorax rather flat, impressed medianly, the punc- 



T, ^ tures lari^er than on head, but rather scattered. Elytra with sides parallel, 



r IG. 91. . . r ' 



Tarsostenus u>ii- 'ipices separately rounded, pygidium exposed ; the basal half impressed,^ 



vittatus Rossi, with rather deep punctures arranged in longitudinal parallel rows ; the 



Dehra Dun. apical half very finely punctate. Length, 7 mm. to 13 mm. 



