321 



results. The alteration in the traps by fixing horizontal strips along 

 the sUts and so prolonging the entry and making exit very difficult 

 was a great improvement, increasing the catch by over 20 per cent. 

 Attempts to discover the sites of aestivation of the moths have again 

 failed, but it is more or less clear that it cannot occur on any part of the 

 tal lands. The life-cycle has been found to require about oiie month at 

 Mokameh. The proportion of n^ales to females increases as the season 

 advances, thus in September it was 1 : 145, October 1 : 2-19, November 

 1-28 : 1, December 2-75 : 1. The traps appear to catch the females 

 before they have laid half their eggs, as appears from a table showing 

 the results of the dissection of several hundred moths. Regarding the 

 first appearance of this pest on the tal, it is usually stated that it first 

 began to do serious damage some 1-5 years ago, though no explanation 

 was forthcoming as to the cause of the outbreak. Some informa- 

 tion was obtained from a Malpur land-holder which throws light on 

 this question. It was said that up to about 14 years ago there used 

 to be high embankments round most of the higher areas of the tal, 

 which enabled these lands to be used for rice and bhadoi crops. These 

 areas eventually became partitioned among a large number of petty 

 holders, who did not take the trouble to repair their sections of these 

 embankments. In the case of the Paijuna tal, an area of some 7,300 

 acres originally belonged to one holder, but has since been subdivided 

 among 45. If these statements are true they explain the increase in 

 the damage done by the pest during recent years. The addition of a 

 large acreage of high lands, which emerge from the flood considerably 

 earlier than the low lands and provide a nursery for an early brood, 

 has enabled an additional brood to be produced on the tal, with the 

 result that the number of the moths flying on to the low areas to lay 

 their eggs has been increased to many times its former number. It 

 appears that the insect does not aestivate near the tal, for no diminution 

 of the moths has occurred as a result of the work of the two previous 

 seasons. The first moths oviposit during the last days of August on 

 the fallow rice areas surrounding the tal, which at that time are the 

 only areas above water ; the bulk of these moths escaped the traps 

 and the caterpillars matured on uncropped land ; the moths from 

 them, emerging in October, flew into the lower areas from which the 

 water was then draining away, laying their eggs on low areas not 

 usually subject to attack ; absence of parasites greatly aided them. 

 The increase of damage in the past season was due to the fact that the 

 first brood, which it is most essential to destroy, was produced out of 

 reach of the traps. Tables are given showing details of the catches 

 in the traps from August to January. The heaviest catches per night 

 per trap was 569 in December, as against 156 and 118 in November 

 and January respectively. 



DuTT (H. L.). The Potato Tingid {Recaredus si?.).— Bihar & Orissa 



Agric. JL, PatnaTn (double no.), 1914, pp. 3G-47. [Received 



30th March 1915.] ' 



This pest was first noticed about 4 years ago in the potato stores 



at Tunia, near Bettiah, where it is known as " dhil " ; its distribution 



is still very limited, but it may spread into equally favourable regions 



to the north of the Ganges, where the humidity is distinctly higher 



than in the south Gangetic area. The pest does serious damage to 



stored potatoes by sucking out the sap and renders the tubers useless 



{C161) D 



