415 



The results show that the infestation was reduced from 24 per cent, 

 "to 15 per cent., but the effect of spraying was less marked as the 

 season advanced, indicating the desirability of a third application. 



Ballard (E.). Tea Helopeltis.— P/a;z/d'rs' Chron., Coimhatore, xvi, 

 no. 23, 4th June 1921, pp. 377-378. 



The importance of Mr. Andrews' discovery [R.A.E., A, viii, 204] 

 regarding the value of potassium salts in the soil in which tea is grown, 

 as a repellent for Helopcltis, is pointed out. While this is apparently 

 a successful remedy in Assam, it may not be equally so m southern 

 India. It would be of interest to ascertain whether the species of 

 Helopcltis concerned in southern India is H. thcivora, as in Assam, 

 or, as seems probable, H. anfonii. 



Felt (E. P.). Indian Grass Gall Midges.— Mt-;;?. Dept. Agric. India, 

 Pusa, Ent. Ser., vii, no. 3, February 1921, pp. 15-22. TReceived 

 30th June 1921.] 



The gall-midges dealt with include Dyodiplosis indica, sp. n., from 

 galls on Andropogon sc/wcnanthus ; D. monticola, sp. n., from galls on 

 A. monticola; D. plumosa, sp. n., from galls on A. annnlatiis and 

 Iseilema laxum ; and Orscoliclla graminis, sp. n., from galls on 

 A. squarrosus. 



A key is given to the Indian species of Dyodiplosis. 



Leiby (R. W.). The Larger Corn Stalk-borer in North Carohna, 



Diatraea zeacolella, Dyar. — Bull. North Carolina Dept. Agric, 

 Raleigh, xli, no. 13, August 1920, 85 pp., 27 figs. [Received'^SOth 

 June 1921.] 



The principal food-plant of Diatraea zeacolella, Dyar, is maize, 

 and in North Carolina the only alternative food-plant is apparently 

 Sorghum sp. The classification and synonymy of this moth are 

 discussed, and the means of distinguishing the injury it causes from 

 that of the beetles, Diabrotica duodecimpunctata, F., and Sphenophorus 

 callosHs, Ohv., and Heliothis obsoleta, F. (corn ear worm) are given. 



The various stages of this moth and its life-history as occurring in 

 North Carolina [R.A.E., A, vh, 380] are described. In addition to 

 the egg-parasite mentioned, an undetermined Ichneumonid and a 

 Pteromalid {Eiipteromalus sp.) have been bred from the pupae. The 

 hibernating larvae are attacked by the fungi, Metarrhizimn anisopliae 

 and Hirsutella sp. The larvae of Chauliognathus pennsvlvanicus, 

 De G., are predaceous on the larvae and pupae of D. zeacolella, and a 

 species of Leucotermes has been found in the larval tunnels in winter 

 stubble. 



Experiments with regard to the time of planting and consequent 

 mjury show that maize planted before 25th May is subject to attack 

 by both generations. The infestation by the first brood may amount 

 to from 70 to 90 per cent, of the stalks. When the plants are nearing 

 the tassel stage the larvae of the second brood are unable to injure the 

 bud, and the damage is almost entirely confined to boring in the stalk. 

 It is thought that the erratic time of planting that is practised serves 

 to maintain the pest continuously in more or less destructive but not 

 epidemic numbers. It is advisable to plant maize after 25th May, 

 so that the crop escapes injury by the first brood and is too far 

 advanced in growth to sufter much from the second brood. All 



