vi PREFACE. 



Ayyar, b.a., and M.R.Ry. Y. Ramachandra Rao, m.a., the 

 two Senior Assistants on the staff of the Government Ento- 

 mologist, Madras, and in several cases I have availed myseli 

 iif notes on lifehistories made by them, such notes being 

 distinguished by their initials. Mr. R. D. Anstead, the 

 Planting Expert, kindly sent me a list of the principal pests 

 found in the Planting Districts and several of these have 

 been included on his authority, as I have not seen them 

 myselfin Southern India. Captain W. S. Patton, I. M.S., 

 read over the manuscript of the Chapter on " Insects and 

 1 )iseasc " and gave the benefit of his criticism on several 

 points, as did Mr. II. C. Sampson with regard to the section 

 on "Agricultural Methods" in the discussion of the control 

 of Insect Pests of Crops. The illustration on the cover was 

 executed by the facile pencil of Mr. R. C. Wood after a rough 

 idea furnished by me. Finally, the book owes its comple- 

 tion and production to the kind encouragement afforded by 

 the Director of Agriculture, the Board of Revenue, and the 

 Government of Madras. 



A few words arc required with regard to the illustrations. 

 The whole of the coloured plates have been reproduced 

 from original drawings made at the Agricultural Research 

 Institute, Pusa ; most of these had been published previously, 

 having been used in Indian Insect Life, Fasaler Poka, the 

 Agricultural Journal of India or in other departmental pub- 

 lications, and it is solely owing to their previous publication 

 that so many coloured plates have been able to be included 

 without unduly increasing the cost of the book. A tew text- 

 figures have been copied from standard publications, their 

 sources being duly acknowledged. All the other illustrations 

 arc original and have been newly prepared under my super- 

 vision from actual specimens of the various insects concerned, 

 many of which have never been figured before. That these 

 original illustrations are not entirely uniform in quality is to 

 be ascribed to the fact that they have been prepared by artists 

 who had no previous experience in making drawings of 

 insects for purposes of reproduction and who have had to 

 be trained in this during the progress o\ the work. 



