98 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 
The next group of plants which we will consider inc‘udes the :— 
MALVACEA. 
The first which we will take is 
Corron (Gossypium spp.) 
on which we find a very large number of insects, of which some are 
serious pests. We will take pests of cotton seedlings. 
Cotton seedlings are attacked chiefly by grasshoppers and crickets. 
On our list I have :— 
Brachytrypes portentosus. 
Gryllodes melanocephalus. 
Chrotogonius spp. 
Epacronia tamulus. 
~ Atractomorpha crenulata, 
Laphygqma exiqua. 
Thrips. 
Atactogaster finitimus. 
Brachytrypes portentosus has been dealt with in Vol. IV, No. 3 of 
our Entomological Memoirs. It is not especially attached to cotton 
but, when these crickets are present in large numbers and young cotton 
plants are available, considerable damage may be done. The preda- 
ceous wasp, Sphex lobatus, preys exclusively on this cricket and checks 
it to some extent. 
Gryllodes melanocephalus seems to occur chiefly in the Punjab, at 
least as a pest, and has been reported as attacking young cotton plants 
in May and June as an occasional major pest. It is controlled by light- 
traps and the burning of fires at night at the corners of the fields. 
Chrotogonus of various species occur everywhere and eat back the 
young seedlings ; they are best dealt with by bag-nets. 
Epacromia tamulus [** South Indian Insects,” p. 525, fig. 417] some- 
times attacks young cotton plants. This grasshopper comes freely 
to light, and light-traps and fires may therefore be tried against it. 
It seems to be found throughout India, from Madras to the Punjab. 
Atractomorpha crenulata is rather a minor pest of cotton.. We shall 
come to it again, later on, under tobacco. 
Laphygma exigua occasionally attacks cotton seedlings but is not 
a regular pest of cotton in India. 
Thrips are sometimes found on young cotton but we seem to know 
very little about these insects. 
Atactogaster finitimus |“ South Indian Insects,” p. 333, fig. 191] is a 
weevil which has appeared in Ramnad and Tinnevelly in October in some 
years and done considerable damage by devouring cotton seedlings. 
