328 



SOME SOl'TH INDIAN INSECTS. ETC. 



Lifehistory.— This weevil lias the curious habit of laying its eggs 

 between folded leaves. The tips or other portions of leaves are 

 folded over and kept in position by the legs. The long ovipositor 

 is inserted into the fold, the sides of which are gummed together 

 by a sticky secretion, and from four to twelve eggs are deposited 

 in the chamber thus formed. The egg is oval, pale while and 

 about i^ mm. long. The eggs hatch after 12 14 days, the resultant 

 white grubs being about 2 mm. long, legless, with a comparativelj 

 large head bearing a pair of moderate-sized dark mandibles, with 

 distinct segments covered with numerous delicate hairs, and having 

 ttu' abdomen straightened out and not doubled up. The newly 

 hatched grubs seem to bite their way out of the leafy egg-capsule 

 and drop to the ground where they burrow down and probably- 

 feed on rootlets of plants. The eggs are laid on any thick fleshy 

 leaf which will retain sufficient moisture to prevent the eggs from 

 drying up. The complete lifehistory has not been followed 

 through, but full-grown grubs, found at roots of pulses, were pale- 

 white, fairly stout, about 15 mm. (3 5 inch) long, with a compara- 

 tively large head and a straightened body. The number of eggs 

 deposited by a single weevil is very large ; a female beetle captured 

 in cop. on I2th August IQI I had laid 1,118 eggs by 10th November 

 when it was still living and was liberated. [Y.R.R]. 



Foodplants. -Usually on pulses; probably feeds on most low- 

 growing plants. 



Status. An intermittent pest in local areas where pulses are 

 grown. 



Control. — Collection by hand. Attraction to baits. Spraying 

 of attacked areas, which are usually circumscribed. 



Natural Enemies. A minute Chalcid ? parasitizes the eggs. 



CEUTHORRYNCHUS ASPERULUS, Est. 



Ceuthorrhynchus asperulus, Faust, Dent. Ent. Zeit. (1898). 323. 



Distribution. — 

 Godavari, Kistna, 

 Bellary, Coimba- 

 tore. ' )ctober to 

 Februan . 



Lifehistory. — 

 The egg iN laid 

 in a very young 

 flower-bud, being 

 thrust through a 

 185.— Ceuthorrhynchus asperulus. The hole bored through 



small figure shows the natural size. 1 ' u ' side p) the 



