360 



and burning infested Jeaves [loc. cit.]. The ginger crop was attacked 

 by two Dipterous borers, one being Calohata sp. and the other an 

 unidentified fly. Termites on sugar-cane were successfully treated 

 with one part crude oil emulsion to forty parts of water. 



SuBRAMANiA Iyer (T. V.). Notes on the more Important Insect 

 Pests of Crops in the Mysore State, ii. Lepidoptera (cont.)- — //• 



Mysore Agric. & Exptl. Union, Bangalore, iii, no. 4, December 

 1921, pp. 189-194. [Received 9th May 1922.] 



These notes are continued from a previous paper [R.A.E., A, x, 200]. 

 Phthorimaea operculella, Z. (potato caterpillar) is an occasional pest 

 of both growing and stored potatoes, and is commonly found in July 

 and October. Seed potatoes should be stored under dry sand, and 

 should be frequently examined and rotten ones destroyed. Care 

 should be taken to plant only healthy seed. Nymphula depunctalis, 

 Gn., is an occasional pest of rice in September and October, the 

 caterpillars eating the epidermis of the leaves. The remedy is to 

 pour a thin film of kerosene on the surface of the water standing in 

 the paddy fields, and then draw a rope across the crop so that the cater- 

 pillars drop on to the kerosene and die. Schoenobins incertelliis, Wlk. 

 {bipunctifer , Wlk.) (paddy stem borer) is sometimes a serious rice pest 

 in September-October, the caterpillars boring into the main stem, where 

 they develop, the central shoots withering or failing to develop ears 

 in the case of older plants. Ploughing after harvest destroys many 

 larvae and pupae in the stubble. Light traps might attract the moths, 

 which are on the wing from August to November. Anomis {Cosmophila) 

 erosa, Hb. (cotton semi-looper caterpillar) and Sylepta derogata, F. 

 (cotton leaf-roller) are minor pests of cotton ; hand-picking the larvae 

 of the former is suggested, and wagtails often destroy many of them. 

 The latter moth only attacks introduced cottons, and early removal 

 of affected leaves is recommended. Spodoptera manritia, Boisd., is 

 sometimes a serious pest of rice nurseries ; when plenty of water is 

 allowed in the nursery bed and the seedlings are transplanted early, 

 adjoining seed-beds are not attacked. The Pyralid, Saliiria inficita, 

 Wlk., is a specific pest of ragi plants in the Madras Presidency. In 

 Mysore, where much ragi [Eleusine coracana] is grown, it has not 

 attacked this crop but has appeared on dryland rice ; much damage 

 will be done if it begins to attack ragi. Flooding the infested fields 

 for a few hours cleared them of infestation. Stenachroia elongeUa, 

 Hmp., occasionally causes much loss by webbing up the grains and 

 living in the earheads of cholam {Andropogon sorghum) , being generally 

 found in August. The first earheads attacked should be destroyed ; 

 if infestation is found about harvest-time, the grain should be threshed 

 immediately after harvest. Virachola isocrates, F. (pomegranate 

 fruit borer) is generally found in March and April, when the larvae 

 bore into the developing fruits and consume the seeds. Guava, orange 

 and tamarind are also attacked in other parts of India. While still 

 small, many of the fruits can be saved by rubbing off the eggs of this 

 butterfly. Each fruit should then be tied up in a piece of cloth. 



Sugar-cane borers include Scirpophaga xanthogastrella {atmflua), 

 which is a serious pest in all sugar-cane districts in the State. The moths 

 are on the wing generally from February to April and September to 

 November. Egg-masses are laid on the cane leaves and the larvae, 

 which hatch in about five to seven days, enter the stem, causing the 

 top shoots to wither and die. In the case of older canes, growth is. 



