165 



on shoots of Panax sp. ; Brachycaudus helichrysi, Kalt. ; Greenidea 

 artocarpi, Westw., on the young shoots of Artocarpus integrifolia ; 

 Shivaphis celti, Das, on leaves of Celtis cinnamomea ; Oreg')na insularis, 

 v.d.G., on leaves of bamboo {Dendrocalamus strictus), the colonies 

 being attended by Oecophylla smamgdhia ; 0. minuta, v.d.G., on 

 leaves of Dendrocalarmis strictus attended by small blackish ants 

 (Cremastogaster) ; Cerataphis lataniae, Boisd., on the inflorescences of 

 an Areca palm. 



Macrosiphum minutum, sp. n., on Vernonia cinerea, and Greenideoida 

 ceyloniae, sp. n., on Messica ferrea are described. 



Senior- White (R.). A Note on Lymantria ampla (Walker). — Spolia 

 Zeylanica, Colombo, xi, no. 40, June 1918, pp. 76-80, 2 figs. 

 [Received 10th February 1919.] 



Lymantria ampla occurs throughout India, Burma, and Ceylon, and 

 feeds on a great variety of plants, being found in Ceylon on cacao, 

 geranium, begonia and rose, though the normal food-plant in the 

 Matale district is probably cacao. There appear to be four broods a 

 year, in January, April, June and October. 



At present this moth is hardly a pest, except of pot-plants such as 

 geranium and begonia, its attacks on cacao being very slight, probably 

 owing to its being kept in check by a Hymenopterous parasite. 



GuNN (D.). The Bagrada Bug {Bagrada hilaris). — Union S. Africa 

 Dept. Agric, Pretoria, Bull. no. 9, 26th June 1918, 16 pp., 

 3 plates. [Received 13th February 1919.] 



Bagrada hilaris has been a pest throughout South Africa for many 

 years. The present paper is the result of studies to elucidate the life- 

 history of the insect and to devise suitable measures for its control. 

 The chief food-plants are Crucifers, especially cabbage, turnip, rape, 

 mustard, radish, etc. Leguminous crops such as beans and peas are 

 attacked to a less degree. Fields of wheat have on more than one 

 occasion suffered severely, and many native plants serve as hosts, as 

 well as some of the wild grasses dm-ing the summer months. The 

 bug flourishes only during the dry season ; ideal conditions for its 

 rapid development are dry weather with a temperature between 

 70° and 80° F. in the shade. Heavy rain destroys many nymphs and 

 adults. The eggs of B. hilaris are deposited on the lower surfaces of 

 lumps of soil ; if exposed to the heat of the sun, they soon perish. 

 The incubation period varies from 8 days in warm weather to 14 days 

 in lower temperatures. The nymphal stage lasts from 50 to 81 days, 

 during which five moults occur. The adults are very active for a time ; 

 pairing takes place soon after the adult stage is reached, after which 

 the males soon die. The females oviposit about a week later and live 

 for another 8 to 14 days. There are four generations in a year in 

 Pretoria ; records of the life-cycles are given in tables. A parasitic 

 Chalcid was reared from eggs of B. hilaris at the end of September, 

 but it is thought that this parasite is not abundant enough during the 

 winter months to exercise much check on its host. The Reduviid, 

 Harpactor segmentarius, Germ., is predaceous on the nymphs and 

 ^aHults, but does not occur in large numbers. A soil fungus, Isaria sp., 

 causes a number of deaths among the bugs, but, like the predaceous 



