28 
LIFE-HISTORIES OF PTEROPHORID 
The following tables give normal life-histories in March-April ; the periods 
are longer in December-Janvary as stated above :— 





Eggs laid Eggs hatched Larve pupated, Moths emerged Total 
23-III 27-III 14 to 17-IV 19 to 22-IV 27—30 
24-III 28-III 16-IV 21-IV 28 
25-III 29-IIT 14-IV f . Tito 19=1V 23—25 
Occurrence. In the life-history as detailed above, there is no stage in which 
long periods of rest would appear to be undergone and hibernation or any such 
resting stage would seem to be impossible. Yet such resting periods must 
occur in actual fact; the normal foodplant of this insect is the pigeon-pea 
(Cajanus indicus, known as arhar, tur or red gram) which is sown with the 
monsoon, say in July, and which flowers and bears pods in December-January: 
in some parts of India, in March-April in others. There is thus abundant 
food for some months only, while this crop is coming into flower and pod, 
and it is then that it is found in abundance in all stages. The pest has been 
under fairly close observation in several places and there is a long gap between 
the crops of pigeon-pea which is apparently bridged in one of several ways. 
The leguminous plant kulthi or lablab bean (Dolichos lablab) is an alternative 
foodplant found in the rains before the pigeon-pea is producing flower-buds, 
and to a very small extent this insect has been found breeding on this plant. 
This has not been recorded in Pusa and the only known way in which the 
moth is known to live over in Pusa from April to December is as an imago in 
shelter in thick grass. A considerable amount of attention has been paid 
to the fauna of thick grass and this species has been found occasionally during 
the months when it is known to breed. It has been found only in this way 
during this time and only in small numbers in the moth stage. 
We believe that normally it lives over from April to December as a moth 
in hiding, emerging when the pigeon-pea is coming into bud to breed; in 
localities where there is a constant supply of its alternative foodplant, it 
emerges earlier and breeds in small numbers on this. That is, in some locali- 
ties where kulthi is regularly grown, a summer brood is found on it ; in other 
places it is not. We may contrast this with Sphenarches caffer which has 
these two foodplants, but also breeds on Cucurbitacez, which are freely culti_ 
vated from April to December, so that the latter can find foodplants throughout 
the year. It is possible that Hzelastis atomosa has wild alternative foodplants, 
but there is as yet no evidence to support this and, had they occurred in Pusa, 
we believe they would have been found. 
