FAMILY BUPKESTIDAE 207 



The buprestid attacks trees of all sizes, but it was perhaps found 

 to be most abundant in the Simla Catchment Area in snow-bent and 

 broken green saplings, of which there were a number in the forest. 



A characteristic of this insect appears to be that it always attacks the 

 trees on the sunny side, i.e. the southern ; if the tree is bent over, as in the 

 case of snow-breaks, it invariably attacks it on the upper side. This is in 

 exact opposition to the habits of the bark-boring insects, which usually attack 

 on the northern or, in the case of bent or felled trees, on the under side. 

 This habit renders the two pests, when working together as they were in 

 the Simla Catchment Area in 1908, more deadly, as they kill the trees 

 quicker. 



The methods of dealing with the deodar bark-borer {Scolytus) beetle 

 when it has appeared in a forest in considerable 



^""RemedLs."'^ numbers, or of ascertaining whether it is in the foresc 

 in any numbers, are fully explained on page 572. 

 These methods may be introduced to combat the attacks of the deodar 

 buprestid beetle. 



It will often be found that the scolytid and buprestid are present in 

 the tree together, and the barking of the tree and burning of the bark 

 carried out to get rid of the scolytid will equally kill off the buprestid grubs 

 provided it is done between the months of July and October. If done 

 earlier you may not catch all your buprestid larvae, since the beetles will not 

 have finished egg-laying. If done later than October merely barking the 

 tree will not suffice, since many of the grubs will have already tunnelled 

 down into the sap wood and will be safe in their pupal chambers. Taking off 

 the bark and burning it will not be sufficient then. It would be necessary 

 to burn the whole infected tree. 



Ephialtes viridipennis, sp. nov., Morley. Faun. Br. Ind. Hymenop. 

 Ichneumenidae. 



77/^,, —Elongate, black, with long antennae and two pairs of iridescent 

 veined wings and elongate legs. Body elongate and 



Parasitic Foes. ^^^^^^ downwards. In fig. 137, b, hi, show the fly en- 

 larged twice and natural size, and c a side view of the fly enlarged twice. 



Larva. — Elongate, white, the thoracic segments 

 having the greatest diameter, the prothoracic seg- 

 ment being constricted anteriorly. The six median 

 abdominal segments furnished with a circular ring 

 of four swollen tubercles situated medianly, dorsally, 

 ventrally, and laterally ; the remaining segments 

 taper posteriorly. In fig. 136, a, ai, show the larva 

 enlarged twice and natural size. 



Life History. — It was noticed in August 1908 " 



•^ „ , -^ , , hlG. 136.— Larva of 



that small elongate hymenopterous grubs were Ephialtes vuidipcnnis, 



present in some of the young buprestid galleries in Morley. a, Enlarged. 



