352 



RoEPKE (W.). Ueber einige weniger bekannte, kulturschadliche Lepi- 



dopteren auf Java. [On some little known Lepidopteroiis pests 

 of crops in Java.] — Tijdschrift roor Entomologie, The Hague, lix, 

 pts. 1 & 2, dated 1st June lyl6, pp. 1-17, 6 plates, 3 figs. 



The caterpillars of the recently described Mudaria variabilis, Rpk., 

 [see this Review, Ser. A, iv, p. 88] are in certain years only too well 

 known to the planters on the ripening fruits of kapok, the fibre of which 

 is partly destroyed or rendered valueless. In 1914, 30 per cent, of the 

 pods were attacked, and there appears to be some relation between 

 large outbreaks and exceptional drought during the East Monsoon 

 from May to October. Nothing is known of the earlier stages of this 

 pest. The development of the caterpillars is completed in the still 

 green, but ripening kapok pods, and the undeveloped silk hairs and the 

 unripe seeds are consumed. Even when the pods are apparently not 

 greatly damaged, their remaining content is of very poor quality and 

 stained brown by excrement ; woodpeckers that are in search of the 

 caterpillars often complete the destruction of the pod. The author 

 has also found the caterpillars on two wild species, viz :■ — Bomhax 

 malabarica and B. valetonii. Before pupation a circular hole about 

 one-sixth of an inch in diameter is bored through the shell of the pod. 

 The caterpillars rapidly burrowed in damp earth provided for the 

 purpose in order to pupate between the end of October and the middle 

 of November. At the end of the following May, when the kapok was 

 in flower, emergence was expected, but the first imago did not appear 

 until the middle of August and the bulk of the remainder during Sep- 

 tember. From nine pupae which were thought to be dead, but were 

 really in a condition to hibernate again, the moths emerged in the course 

 of the following January, probably prematurely, owing to their having 

 been kept too dry. The fully-grown caterpillar, pupa and imago are 

 described and compared with the closely allied M. cornifrons, Moore. 



Control seems difficult ; the destruction of the wild species of 

 Bomhax is not considered practicable, and as the attacked pods are not 

 readily distinguished from sound ones, nothing can be gained by early 

 collection of them. No natural enemies other than the woodpeckers, 

 which do more harm than good, have been observed. 



The next species dealt with, Arhela tetraonis, Moore, is markedly 

 polyphagous with a predilection for kapok. The following leguminous 

 shade trees are also largely attacked :■ — Alhizzia moluccana, A. siipulata, 

 Deguelia micro jphylla, Caesalpinia dasyrachis, Pithecolobiiim and others. 

 The caterpillar lives in a rather short burrow inside the stem or twig ; 

 this serves more as a resting place than anything else, as the living bark 

 supphes the food. Pupation takes place in the burrow and close behind 

 the outlet. The caterpillars are difficult to rear, the best plan being to 

 enclose an attacked stem in a gauze cage, and it was in this way that 

 the author obtained imagines of this moth. The damage done to 

 kapok and other trees is not very serious and cacao is only occasionally 

 attacked and then chiefly neglected or badly cultivated trees. The 

 caterpillars have been found in Java on Alhizzia moluccana at a height 

 of 5,000 feet above the sea. 



The third pest is a small Noctuid, Autoha lilacina, Warren, the 

 caterpillars of which live on cacao and Cynometra caulijiora, eating 

 shallow burrows in the rind of the fruit and never penetrating to the 



