422 



S< 'Ml sol ill [\D1A\ INSECTS, ETC 



thej feed, lining their tunnel with silken webbing. Tin- full-grown 

 caterpillar is about 20 25 mm. long, moderatel) stout, smooth 

 except for a few short bristly hairs, dirty-white with a yellowish 



head. The pale-yellowish pupa is enclosed in a tough oval cocoon 

 of white silk, usually spun in a crack or crevice and often covered 

 with larval excreta on the outside. 



Food. — Wax of Bees' combs. 



Status. — A pest of Apiaries. 



( Otltrol. — Colonies of bee should be kept strong. The use of 

 bar-frame hives, coupled with regular examination of the combs, 

 will keep this pest in check. Wax foundation should be kept in 

 tight boxes to which the moths cannot obtain access. 



diatr.4-;a sp. 



I'ig !98. Diatraa sp. 'II tline figure shows the natural size. IOi 



Distribution. Probably throughout the Plains of Southern India. 



Lifehistory. Not known in detail. Caterpillar, a borer in stalks 

 of cane, whitish with dark waits from which arise bristly hairs. 

 Pupa slender, brown, in larval tunnel. 



Foodplant. Sugarcane. Occasionally (exceptionally) in cholam. 



Status. A serious pest of sugarcane. 



( ontrol. The shoots attacked by the caterpillars wither 

 and show as dead-hearts. These should be cut out and burnt to 

 prevent the moths emerging and spread oi the attack. If this is 

 done at once, while the crop is voting, new shoots will be thrown 

 up and no loss of crop occur. 



Remarks. This insect lias hitherto been confused with Chilo 

 simplex, but is distinct in structure, habits and main foodplants. 

 It is perhaps Diatrcea venosata, Wlk., of which striatalis, Snellen, well 



known as a serious pest oi cane m Java, is a synonym. 



( llllo SIMPLEX, Bull. 



Chilo simplex, Butl., l'.Z.S. (1880). 090; Hmpsn., Faun. Ind. 



Mi th-, IV. 2b. f. 17; Lefroj [partim), bid. Ins. Pests, pp. 125 130, ff. 



