FAMILY CHRYSOMELIDAE 



young stems of the bamboo, and the grub tunnels 

 right down the interior of the stem through the 

 nodes. 



One egg only is apparently laid on the stem be- 

 tween two nodes and near the upper one, and the grub 

 tunnels down through the interior of the internode 

 until it reaches the lower node, by which time it is 

 full-fed and pupates. Under the operations of the grub 

 the whole of the interior of the internode is eaten away. 

 The beetle matures in the interior of the internode, and 

 when fully developed it leaves by a hole in the stem 

 which would appear to have been eaten out or partially 

 eaten out by the larva. Towards the end of January 

 I found the beetles mature in the interior of the inter- 

 nodes, and ready to leave the bamboo. 



Although in some cases a young bamboo had been 

 infested by several grubs, in no case did I find more 

 than one beetle in any one internode, and it was fully 

 apparent that only one grub had occupied the space 

 between any two nodes. 



It has been shown that the beetles appear in 

 November in Berar and in July in Coimbatore. It is 

 thus possible that there may be two generations of the 

 insect in the year. This is, however, doubtful. 



The insect must be looked upon as a serious pest 

 of bamboos, since the beetle feeds upon the young 

 shoots and leaves, whilst its grubs hollow out the 

 interior of the stem. 



It is the first instance I have met of a chryso- 

 melid acting in this manner. 



255 





I 



A B 



Fu;. 179. — Cephalo- 

 stachyii)}i pergi-acile 

 bamboos infested by 

 Esfigineiia ch incus is. 

 A, beetle /;/ situ in inte- 

 rior of bamboo ; B, exit- 

 hole of beetle in wall of 

 bamboo near the upper 

 node. (E. P. S.) 



Crioceris. 

 Crioceris impressa, Fabr. 



References.— Fabr. Mant.lnsA, 1787, p. 88 ; id. Ent. Syst. i, pt. 2, 1792, p. 6; Olivier, Swc. Meth. vi, 1791, 

 p. 187; id. Entom. vi, 1808, p. 730, pi. i, fig. 4; Lacord. Mon. Phytoph. i, 1845, p. 562; Baly, Trans. 

 Ent. Soc. Land. 1865, p. 32 ; var. castanea, Lacord. Mon. Phytoph. i, 1845, P- 564; var. crassicornis, 

 Oliv. Ent. vi, 1808, p. 731, pi. i, fig. 6; var. omophloides, Lacord. Mon. Phytoph. i, 1845, p. 564 ; Jacoby, 

 F.B.I. Coleoptera, vol. ii, Chrysomelidae, p. 72. 



Habitat. — The whole continent of India; Ceylon, Andaman Islands, 

 Nicobars. Also Malayan Islands, Philippines, China, Siam. 



Tree Attacked. — India-rubber (Ficiis elastica). Charduar, Darrang, Assam. 



Beetle. — Beneath, fulvous or piceous with silvery patches ; thorax bluish or black ; elytra 



fulvous or flavous. This is one of the most variable and widely distributed of all the species 



of the Chrysomelidae. Scarcely two specimens are ever alike, and 



Description. this applies not only to coloration but also to sculpture. Some 



specimens are much narrower than others ; the head is either fulvous 



•or black, the antennae are sometimes much shorter than is the rule, also equally variable in 



