Mr. Ramakrishna 
Ayyar. 
Mr. Fletcher. 
Mr. Ramakrishna 
Ayyar. 
222 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 
pest in this connection. We have already considered this species under 
castor, but it has a very wide range of foodplants. 
Eublemma silicula has been reared at Pusa from mango buds and 
inflorescence and also at Nagpur from mango flowers. It has also 
been bred from castor fruit and jwar heads, but is not known to be a 
recular pest and may be a rubbish-feeder. 
Antestia cruciata [*‘ South Indian Insects,” p. 472, fig. 350] has 
been reported on mango flowers in the Central Provinces, but we do 
not know what damage is done. It is probably a mere casual visitor 
on mango. 
Idiocerus niveosparsus is described and figured in “ South Indian 
Insects, ”’ pp. 495-496, fig. 384, but I. atkinsona and I. clypealis are 
also common species and quite similar as regards habits, damage and 
control, so we may consider all three together. Some work has been 
done recently on these insects in Madras, the Punjab and Mysore, so 
perhaps the delegates from those Provinces will tell us about this. 
In Madras, [diocerus niveosparsus is the species found most fre- 
quently as a pest, but the other two species, I. atkinsoni and I. clypealis 
are also very common. Experiments on the control of Ldiocerus have 
been carried out at Salem, and the results of the first year’s work were 
published in the Agricultural Journal of India. 
Idiocerus is generally found at the time oi the flowering of the mango 
trees. At other seasons alsethey are present, but not in large numbers. 
One year when I was at Guindy in August there were very large 
numbers of Idiocerus present on the trunks and under sides of the 
branches of mango trees. 
They attack the tender flower-shoots and leaf-shoots, the result 
being that flower-buds, which appear in the beginning of the season, 
wither away. 
Crude Oil Emulsion was tried from the time the flower-shoots 
appeared. The trees were sprayed once in every ten or twelve days. 
The worst trees did not require more than seven or eight sprayings. 
Some trees were cleared of Jdiocerus after two or three sprayings. 
Two blocks were selected ; one was sprayed, and the other kept 
as a check. The yields of the two blocks were compared and the re- 
sults were found to be pretty encouraging. 
Last year (1916) Fish-oil-Resin Soap and Crude Oil Emulsion were 
tried to compare relative cost and efficacy. Fish-oil-Resin Soap was 
used at a strength of one pound to ten gallons of water, and Crude Oil 
Emulsion also at the same strength. The cost of Fish-oil-Resin Soap 
came to eight annas per tree for complete operations, that of Crude 
