155 / 



Natural enemies of P. gossypiella are the larval parasites, Micro- 

 bracon lefroyi and Apanteles sp., but their effect is not great. A nymph, 

 apparently of a Reduviid bug, was observed in one instance sucking 

 the eggs, but it was not reared to maturity. 



MisRA (C. S.). Oxycarenns laetiis ; the Dusky Cotton Bug. — Kept. 



Proc. 4th Ent. Meeting, Pusa, February 1921, Calcutta, 1921, 



pp. 84-92. 

 Oxycarenus laetus is quite a serious pest of cotton in India, the 

 losses being frequently more than 20 per cent, of the value of the 

 crop, besides the indirect damage due to the impaired vitality of the 

 plant. Another cotton stainer, Dysdercus cingulatus, is a somewhat 

 similar pest ; both injure the lint as well as the seed, and feed for 

 preference on open bolls, particularly those already damaged by 

 Earias fabia and E. insulana The effect of infestation by 0. laetus 

 is the shedding of enormous numbers of flowers and buds. The eggs 

 are laid in clusters of about two to ten, generally in the lint of half- 

 opened bolls, between the calyx and the boll, but when oviposition 

 is at its height eggs may also be laid at random on the bolls, flowers, 

 and buds. The life-cycle during the winter lasts from 36 to 50 days. 

 The various stages are described. This pest has been reported from 

 many widely separated localities, and perhaps occurs in all the cotton- 

 growing tracts in India. Besides cotton, the known food-plants are 

 Hibiscus esculentus, H. cannabinus, H. abelnioscns, hollyhock, Abutilon 

 indicum and Thespesia sp. 



No parasite of any stage was observed by the author. A small 

 Anthocorid bug, Triphleps tantillus, has been seen to attack the 

 nymphs on cotton at Pusa. 



Jhaveri (T. N.). Notes on Cotton Boll-worms {Earias fabia and 

 E. insulana). — Rcpt. Proc. 4th Ent. Meeting, Pusa, February 

 1921, Calcutta, 1921, pp. 93-95. 

 In Gujarat, the pink boll worm [Platyedra gossypiella] does no 

 perceptible damage to the crop ; the chief pests of cotton are 

 Earias fabia and E. insulana, especially the former, which attacks 

 the crop in all stages and particularly damages the young tender 

 shoots in the seedling stage. Sometimes more than 50 per cent, of 

 the young cotton plants are bored into and damaged, and later on 

 young buds, flowers and small bolls are infested and there is much 

 shedding of buds and flowers. Trap-crops of Hibiscus escidentus 

 have proved very successful in keeping the pest from cotton, and 

 an appreciable sum was realised by the sale of the pods. The removal 

 of affected shoots by pruning was also tried, and the cost of various 

 methods of pruning is discussed. The effect of weather conditions 

 on the numbers of the larvae, and the relative proportion of young 

 flower-buds shed as a result of bollworm attack and climatic conditions 

 are also considered. 



Jhaveri (T. N.). Notes on Cotton WooUy Mite {Eriophyes gossypii). — ■ 



Kept. Proc. 4th Ent. Meeting, Pusa, February 1921, Calcutta, 



1921, pp. 96-97,: 



The mite, Eriophves gossypii, is particularly prevalent on a variety 



of cotton {Gossypium herbaceum) in the Gujarat district, the affected 



leaves having an ash-like appearance and remaining small and curled 



up. The mites live mostly under the epidermis of the leaf and cause 



(5733) L 2 



