294. PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 
Graptostethus servus [“ South Indian Insects,” p. 482, fig. 366] is 
common on sweet potato throughout India but is probably not a pest. 
It sometimes occurs in numbers and may be collected in nets. 
Halticus minutus is a small Capsid bug, in appearance very similar 
to a Flea-beetle. When at Moulmein in September 1914 I found this 
in large numbers on sweet potato, and it was undoubtedly a pest, the 
leaves being spotted with punctures. It is probably common in most. 
districts but that is the only occasion on which it seems to have been 
noticed in any numbers. It could be collected in hand-nets if suffi- 
ciently abundant. 
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE (Helianthus tuberosus). 
Artichoke is nearly allied to Sunflower which we took under oil- 
seeds. The leaves are eaten by :— 
Diacrisia obliqua. 
Pachnephorus bretinghama. 
Diacrisia obliqua occurs on artichoke much as it does on sunflower 
and the egg-masses and clusters of young larve should be picked off. 
Pachnephorus bretinghami has been found at Pusa but is not much 
of a pest. . 
The roots of artichoke are sometimes attacked by Dorylus orientalis, 
which we have already considered several times and there is nothing 
special to say about it. 
ASPARAGUS. 
Asparagus seems to have few pests in India, but a Coreid bug, a 
species of Brachytes, was sent to us recently from Solan, near Simla, 
as attacking asparagus. In such cases the bugs could be collected by 
hand. 
Ginger (Zingiber officinale). 
Ginger is grown principally on the Malabar Coast and in Southern 
Burma. The leaves are attacked by Udaspes folus [“ South Indian 
Insects,” p. 420, fig. 295], which is sporadically serious as a pest, the 
caterpillar rolling the leaves ; when in numbers the folded leaves con- . 
taining the larvee and pups are easily seen and the immature insects 
collected by hand. 
The stems and rhizomes of ginger are also bored by the caterpillar 
of Dichocrocis punctiferalis [l.c., p. 433, tab. 34]. It is not usually a 
Serious pest on ginger and the only remedy is to destroy the attacked 
portions of the plants. - 
