392 



SOME SOL'TH INDIAN INSECTS, ETC. 



HYBL.l. \ PI ERA, Cr. 

 Noctua puera, Cramer, Pap. Exot., t. 103 D, E (1777). 

 Hyblcea puera, Moore, Lep. Ceylon, III, t. 154, ft". 2, 2 a ; Hmpsn., 



Faun. bid. Moths, II, 371 -372, f. 204; Hole, B.J., XV, 679-697, t. 

 A— E. 



Fig. 258. — Hybleea puera : 1, Larva; 2, Pupa; 3, Moth. (Larva and 

 Pupa afti 1 Mi .) 



Distribution. — Throughout Southern India. 



Lifehistory. — The oblong, yellowish or greenish eggs are laid 

 singly on the barks of young leaves, usually in an angle between 

 two veins. The full-grown larva is about 30 mm. long, stout, 

 cylindrical, very variable in colour, usually greenish below and 

 dark-brown or blackish above, with a sub-dorsal white line and 

 lateral spots which may form interrupted lines. It lives in the 

 shelter of a rolled-up leaf in which it usually hides during the day- 

 time, only coming out to feed at night. Pupation in a rolled leaf, 

 amongst dead leaves on the ground, or in the soil. The total life- 

 cycle is about a month. 



Foodplants.—TeaV (Tectona grandis), Bignoniaceae and probably 

 many other plants. 



St, tins. May he a serious pest of teak. 



Control. Cutting out alternative foodplants in forests ; en- 

 couragement of insectivorous birds, such as Mynahs which are 

 reported to Iced on these caterpillars at Nilambur. In nurseries the 

 young plants may be sprayed but this is not practicable in the 

 open forest. 



PLUSIA SIGNATA, Fb. (?) 



Noctua signata, Fab., Ent. Syst., Ill, 2. p. 81 (1794). 



Plusia signata, Hmpsn., Faun. End. Moths, II. 568-569; Lefroy, 

 bid. Ins. IV^ts, p. 135. IT. 172 174, Ent. Mem. Dept. Agri., I ml., I, I go, 

 Ind. Ins. Lite, p. 452. 



