154 



upon the pupae ; the ants, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, Smith, and Cremas- 

 togaster lineolata laeviuscvlaY&r. clara, Mayr, kill the larvae ; and several 

 species of Asilidae eat the adults, including Proctacanihus milbertii, 

 Macq., and Stenopogon picticornis, Lw. A fungus which attacked the 

 pupae in the Salt River Valley in 1912, is stated to be probably an un- 

 described parasitic Fvsarimn, and is by far the greatest natural check 

 on this pest. The disease is endemic, but only becomes prevalent 

 when high humidity and warm weather occur together. It is therefore 

 artificially increased by irrigation, and using fields for pasture has 

 somewhat the same effect. Systematically and carefully postured 

 fields suffer the minimum of injur}\ Cattle should never be allowed 

 on a field when wet, nor for too long a period, say from 24 

 ta 35 days, and disking or renovating should always follow so 

 as to loosen the soil. If fields are closely and cleanly cut there 

 will be no food to enable any remaining caterpillars to complete their 

 development, and they will not be protected from an early irrigation 

 or from the rays of the sun. Early cutting is a valuable help in control, 

 and by disking or renovating every winter and in the month of August, 

 or oftener if possible, any pupae present will be disturbed. A field 

 should never be abandoned because the caterpillars threaten the 

 destruction of a crop before it can mature. It should be mowed at 

 once, cutting it low and clean. A part of the crop will thus be saved 

 and a great many generp.tions of the pest will be starved and killed 

 by exposure to the sun. Disking, followed by rolling or brush-dragging, 

 wiU kill the majority of the remaining larvae. The ground should 

 then be thoroughly irrigated. 



Stebbing (E. p.). Indian Forest insects of Economic Importance: 

 Coleoptera. London: Eyre &Spottiswoode, Ltd., 1914, xvi+ 648 pp. 

 54 pis., 401 figs. 



The study of Indian forest insects is said by the author to be still 

 only in the pioneer stage, but the mass of material available was so 

 great that it was considered advisable to confine this volume to the 

 Coleoptera. The area dealt with includes India, Burma and Ceylon. 

 The first chapter of the book deals with the distribution of the 

 insect fauna of the Indian forests, and it is shown that the attempt 

 to divide the forest area into regions more or less according to climate 

 ox by their prevailing trees as a basis for the study of insect fauna, 

 breaks down, as both trees and insects pass the artificial boundaries 

 and the latter accomodate themselves to new hosts. The distribution 

 of the Sal longicorn, Hoplocermnbyx spinicornis, is a good example. 

 The beetle attacks this tree both in the Central Provinces and Assam, 

 but in the Shan Hills, far beyond the distribution limit of the Sal, 

 it attacks Duabanga sonnatioides and Pentacme suavis, while north- 

 wards the Sal extends to the foothills of the Northern Himalayas, 

 hut the beetle does not follow it, its place being taken by another 

 longicorn, Aeolesthes holosericea. The second chapter reviews in- 

 jurious insects from the point of view of the part attacked and the 

 means at the disposal of the insect for effecting the damage, and 

 beneficial insects, predatory and parasitic, are noticed. The next 

 chapter deals with methods for ascertaining the presence of insect 

 pests and the study of their hfe-histories. The chance capture near 



