PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 69 
any of these localities, and it is possible that the identification may not 
be correct, and in the absence of specimens we cannot check it. 
Tanymecus indicus and Myllocerus blandus are two weevils, which 
have been found on Sann-hemp at Pusa but are scarcely pests. M. 
blandus is commoner than 7. indicus. 
On the flowers of Sann-hemp we get Meloid beetles, as on other 
flowers, but when they do damage they are fairly easily caught in hand- 
nets. 
In this connection I might mention that, when you come across Meloid 
beetles in numbers, it will be useful if you collect a good deal of material 
and dry it in order to experiment with these beetles as a source of 
Cantharidin for Veterinary purposes. In the ‘ First Hundred Notes ”’ 
I gave some figures of the amount of Cantharidin available in some 
species, but we want a good deal more information on the subject to 
know which are the best species to use and where they will be available 
as regards a regular supply. 
We find a few insects boring in the shoots and stems of Sann-hemp :— 
Laspeyresia pseudonectis. 
Laspeyresia tricentra. 
Sphenoptera arachidis. 
Nupserha sp. 
There has been a good deal of confusion between these first two species 
and the plate used in “ Indian Insect Life’ and ‘‘ South Indian In- 
sects is very poor. I have therefore had a new plate done of L. pseudo- 
nectis and the original of this is laid on the table for you to see. You 
will see that pseudonectis is readily distinguishable in the male sex by the 
blackish irroration on the hindwings and abdomen, this being absent in 
the male of tricentra ; but the females are practically indistinguishable. 
It will be useful if we can get a good series of specimens from all localities 
in which Laspeyresia damages Sann-hemp, so that we can see which 
Species 1s really implicated. At Pusa L. pseudonectis is the common 
species and so far we do not seem to have found tricentra here, whereas 
tricentra is apparently common in Western India. As Mr. Ghosh was 
rearing pseudonectis here last year, perhaps he will tell us something 
about it. 
Laspeyresia pseudonectis attacks Sann-hemp whilst the crop is stil 
young, about five or six inches high. At that stage of growth the cater- 
pillar attacks the topshoot which is formed into a characteristic gall. 
The attack does not stop altogether the growth of the plant, which 
grows in length. In later stages of growth of the plant, the attack 
takes place at the axils of leaves, where also a swelling is formed. In 
this latter case, the fibre is affected. There may be more thar one gall 
] Mr. Ghosh. 
