62 



Planters are urged to encourage bees on their estates, and if any attempt 

 be made at bee-keeping, to employ Apis indica, as the habits of the 

 other species render this almost impossible. 



Incidentally it was found that the Jak Cercopid, Cosmocarta relata, 

 was a very serious pest of the Jak tree in Coorg, and a Pjoirhocorid bug, 

 Odontopus nigricornis, was found in hundreds in all stages on one estate 

 feeding on the fallen fruits of various trees, chiefly Ficus, Trewia, etc. 



Imms (A. D.) & Chatterjee (N. C). On the Structure and Biology 

 of Tachardia lacca, Kerr, with observations on certain insects 

 predaceous or parasitic upon it. — Indian Forest Mem., Forest Zool. 

 Ser., Calcutta., iii, no. 1, 1915, 42 pp., 8 plates. [Received 

 28th December 1915.] 



Tachardia lacca, Kerr (lac insect) has a wide distribution in India 

 but is mainly confined to elevations below 1,500 feet. The trees and 

 shrubs serving as food-plants exceed 90 species, but of these only a 

 few yield lac in sufficient quantity to be commercially valuable. 

 T. lacca is almost certainly viviparous and is double-brooded. The 

 first generation of larvae emerges from the middle of June until the 

 beginning of August, the date varying according to the food-plant, 

 locality and climatic conditions. This generation gives rise to the 

 second brood of larvae which emerge from the middle of October until 

 the beginning of January. In both broods the larvae issue from the 

 resinous incrustations of the female ; this process is termed swarming 

 and lasts from 10 days to 4^ weeks. It is exclusively during the 

 swarming period that the insect spreads from one tree to another, 

 high winds being the main distributing agency. A small number are 

 probably carried by birds, and ants also are believed to be an important 

 factor. On emergence, the larvae search for tender twigs. Owing to 

 the fact that they attach themselves very closely together, the 

 individual incrustations of lac which are secreted, become confluent 

 and form thick excrescences on the twigs. The male insects emerge 

 about one month after the fixation of the first brood larvae and from 

 3| to 5 months after fixation of the second brood. The female remains 

 in the cell throughout life. Young larvae appear from two to three 

 months after the emergence of males. From the time of fixation 

 onwards, T. lacca secretes honey-dew in considerable quantities. This 

 substance forms a nutritive medium for certain fungi, belonging chiefly 

 to the genera Fumago and Capnodium, and is attractive to one or more 

 species of ants. 



T. lacca appears to be one of the most extensively parasitised of all 

 known Coccidae. Of the Lepidoptera, Euhlemma amabilis, Moore, 

 is the most destructive of all insects attacking lac. It has been bred 

 from lac received from the Central Provinces, United Provinces and 

 Bombay, and it is common in Bengal. The eggs are deposited 

 in crevices of the lac incrustations ; the resulting larvae devour 

 both the lac and the Coccids within. Pupation takes place near 

 the surface of the lac. There are at least two generations annually, 

 possibly three in the hottest localities. The adults of the first 

 generation emerge from June to August, those of the second from 

 October to December or January. Owing to the great variability in the 

 duration of the larval and pupal stages, the generations often overlap, 



