152 



Pest Act. There appears to be a long feeding stage between January 

 and the end of March ; after that time the generations overlap 

 and follow each other rapidly. The author has not found the pink 

 bollworm breeding in Thespesia, as it is supposed to do, but it breeds 

 freely in bhindi \ Hibiscus esculentus]. Native cottons, which have 

 been alleged to be immune, do not appear to be so. 

 A Ust of Orthoptera observed in various districts is given. 



Ramakrishna a war (T. V.). Short Notes on New and Known 

 Insects from South InAia.— Kept. Proc. 4th Ent. Meeting, Pnsa, 

 February 1921, Calcutta, 1921, pp. 29-40, 5 plates. 



This paper is supplementary to a previous one [R. A.E., A, ix, 68] 

 .and deals with some 55 further' species. Some new species are recorded, 

 and brief notes are given on synonymy, distribution, life-hist-ory, 

 habits, etc. Among the new species are an apparently new Braconid 

 of the' genus Microplitis ; a wood-wasp (Siricid), which is apparently 

 the first recorded from South India, this family being very rare in the 

 tropics ; a lablab vine gall-weevil ; . a gall-producing PsyUid on 

 Cinnamommn camphor a, to which it causes appreciable damage ; and an 

 apparently new grasshopper, Phyllochoreia sp., found in all stages 

 on Ay/w and Terminalia bushes, "nibbling the tender foUage. Many 

 new records of Coccids are added. 



R.AMACHANDRA Rao (Y.). Oxvu velox.—Rcpt . Proc. 4th Ent. Meeting, 

 Pusa, February 1921, Calcutta, 1921, pp. 41-42. 



Oxva velox. a small grasshopper attacking paddy, has adapted itself 

 to marsh conditions and feeds on grasses growing in wet situations. 

 Both young and adults attack the leaves of paddy, especially in 

 nurseries, and the adults bite at the bases of maturing earheads and 

 cause them to dry up. Cotton and pulse crops are also attacked. 

 On paddy, eggs are laid in masses of 10 to 29 among the stems and 

 grass clumps an inch or two above water-level, and are protected by 

 a red-brown gummy substance. Egg-masses are also found in the folds 

 of cotton or paddy leaves. The incubation period varies from 15 to 

 41 days, depending chiefly on the season and the presence or absence 

 of moisture, and being shortest in April, and longest in December 

 and January. 0. velox is most numerous from August to November, 

 though it breeds throughout the year. The largest number of eggs 

 laid by one female was 177. 



Predators attacking this grasshopper are frogs and birds ; parasites 

 include a Sarcophagid, mites, and, among egg-parasites, the Chalcids, 

 Tumidiscapus oophagus, Gir. (which is itself parasitised by Aximopsis 

 tmnidiscapi, Gir.), and Anastatus coimbatorensis, Gir., and the Proc- 

 totrupid, Scelio oxyae, Gir. 



Ploughing is useless in the egg-stage, and collection of the egg- 

 masses results in the destruction of the parasites as well ; bagging 

 is advocated when the grasshoppers are numerous. 



DE Mello (F.) & Afonso (P. C). First Entomological Records in 

 Portuguese India. — Kept. Proc. 4th Ent. Meeting, Pusa, February 

 1921, Calcutta, 1921, pp. 43-48. 



Little is known of the insects of economic importance in Portuguese 

 India, as investigations were begun only six years ago. A list is given 

 •of the agricultural pests observed during the last two years. 



