101 



Mr. E. Ballard notes a Capsid, Megacoelnm stramineum, Wlk., as 

 probably occurring all over India. The chief food-plant is Andropogon 

 sorghum (cholam), of which the variety harvested in January and 

 February suffers most; various other crops are attacked such as 

 groundnut and gingelly. This bug is usually associated with Calocoris 

 angustatus, supplementing the work of the latter by depositing its 

 eggs in the ripening grains. About 150 to 200 eggs are laid by one 

 female in March and hatch in from 5 to 6 days. The nymphs mature 

 in 10 to 11 days, during which time 5 moults take place. The different 

 instars are described. 



Notes by Mr. Ramakrishna Ayyar deal with the weevil, Apodems 

 iravquebaricus, ¥., a pest of mango fruit, the usual food-plant being the 

 native almond tree, Tenninalia catappa. The bulk of the information 

 concerning Contheyla rotunda, Hmp., a Limacodid pest of coconuts, 

 has been noticed elsewhere [R.A.E., A, vi, 47]. The Hesperid, Parata 

 ■alexis, F., caused very serious damage to the foHage of Pongamia 

 glabra trees in November. Each larva folds the leaf in the form of a 

 tube in which after feeding on the leaf-tissue it pupates ; the adult 

 emerges after from 9 to 10 days. Notes are also given on 56 new or 

 previously unrecorded species of Indian Coccids. These include 

 Phenacoccus ballardi, Green, and Lecanium adersi, Newst., on mango. 

 [See also R.A.E., A, vii, 402.] 



Beeson (C. F. C). The Construction of Calcareous Opercula by 

 Longicorn Larvae of the Group Ceramhycini (Coleoptera, 

 Cerambycidae).— i^oresi Res. Inst., Dehra Dun. UP., Forest Bull. 

 38, 1919, 10 pp., 1 plate. [Received 31st December 1919.] 



Attention is drawn to the power possessed by certain species of 

 Longicorn beetles of economic importance of secreting hme in large 

 quantities during the larval stage while feeding in the bark and sap- 

 wood of the food-plants. 



Before pupation the larva regargitates the hme secreted during the 

 larv^al development, and this, mixed with a variable proportion of 

 gammy or silkv matter, forms a plastic material which is moulded 

 by the larva to a design constant for each species and exhibiting 

 generic, if not specific, characters. The remains of this operculum 

 in timber thus afford valuable means of identification. 



The species in which this habit is described include Aeolesthes 

 holosericea, F., Hoplocerambgx spinicornis, Newm., Diorthus cinereus, 

 ¥., Duileges pauper, Base, Plocaederus obesus, Gah., Pachjdissus sp., 

 and Derolus spp. 



Investigations on the function of this calcareous operculum at tne 

 entrance to the pupal chamber in Aeolesthes, Hoplocerambgx, Derolus 

 and Pachgdissus, in which a simple cap-shaped operculum is formed, 

 show that, being impermeable, it prevents excessive loss of moisture 

 through the prepupal gallery, which is in direct communication with 

 the outer air. 



In Plocaederus, Diorthus and Dialeges, which prepare a complete 

 egg-shell-hke hning to the pupal chamber, the object is to prevent 

 desiccation and to maintain a constant degree of humidity in the 

 pupal cell. 



