190 



sometimes occurs on leaflets of young trees, and may develop into a 

 serious pest as it occurs in all parts of the country. Boring-beetles 

 include at least two species, but only larvae have as yet been obtained. 

 One of these may be RhyncJiophorus ferrvgineus, which bores in the 

 superficial layers of the trunk of mature palms. When abundant it 

 appears to interfere with the nutrition of the palms and renders 

 them liable to break off in high winds. The other species is a 

 Lamellicorn, and bites off the young leaves as they appear and the 

 main stem of the fruit cluster. The larvae of another Pyrahd, 

 distinct from that producing " hashaf," attack windfall dates on the 

 ground. Pupation occurs in the ground and lasts from 10 to 14 days. 

 This moth may breed all the year and also infests stored dates. 



It is suggested that an entomologist should be detailed to study the 

 life-history and control of the "hashaf" moth, as this damages the 

 crop considerably each year and every few years becomes really 

 serious, as in the season under review. 



Beeson (C. F. C). Forest Insect Conditions in Gorakhpur Division, 

 U.P. — Indian Forester, Allahabad, xlv, no. 1, Januarv 1919, 

 pp. 10-15. 



The insect pests occurring in the sal [Shorea rohvsta'] forests of the 

 Gorakhpur division may be classed as borers, defoliators and those 

 infesting young gi owth. 



The complete removal of felling debris, combined with the barking 

 of poles and logs, prevents the continuance of almost all species of 

 borers commonly found in sal forests from the Western United 

 Provinces to Assam. The only species at present able to breed in 

 felled material during the working season are Sphaerotrypes 

 siivalikensis, Steb. (sal bark-beetle), Xylotrechus smei, L. & G., a 

 small sapwood Longicom, and Xyleborus perforans, Woll., a cos- 

 mopolitan and polyphagous pin-hole borer. These occur in stacks 

 and unbarked slabs, but their presence is economically negligible. 

 In sal from the pole to the tree stages, borers with semi-annual and 

 annual life-cycles are endemic, in addition to the species with short 

 life-cycles, the most important of these being Aeolestlies holosericea ; 

 Dialeges pauper also occurs together with Diapus furtivus, and a few 

 minor shot-hole borers and Anthribids, Such borers as A. holosericea, 

 D. pauper and Xylotrechus smei have survived because they are 

 polyphagous, breeding commonly in half a dozen of the various trees 

 associated with sal, and because they develop by semi-aimual 

 generations which can lengthen the life-cycle to a year if conditions 

 are adverse. 



The principle defoliators are the larvae of Ingura subapicalis, Wlk., 

 Plotheia seltis, Moore, Suanaconcolor, Wlk., Trabala lishnu, Lef., Loch- 

 no sterna problematica, Brenske, Adoretus caliginosus, Burm., Holotrichia 

 spp. and Serica spp., the maximum defoliation taking place in April, 

 May and June. Their economic importance is still a matter of con- 

 jecture, but it is probable that, with the extension of blocks of even- 

 aged forest imder the uniform system, the effect they produce will 

 become more obvious, and they will be reckoned as the principal pests 

 of uniform forests. 



The chief insect pests of sal seedlings in nurseries are grasshoppers, 

 especially Chrotogonus, which are accompanied by species of Teratodes, 



