90 LIFE-HISTORIES OF GELECHIAD 
Larva described by Lefroy(3) and Fletcher(§). Feeds on Medicago(), 
Cyamopsis(*), and is a pest of indigo(*® * !°) and lucerne(® * 1°). 
This species is quite of minor importance as a rule but in 1909 it appeared 
in the Champaran District as a serious pest of Java indigo and did considerable 
damage, as is instanced in the following report :—“‘ The caterpillars seem to 
have made a pretty clean sweep of the field attacked ; there are very few 
plants unattacked, practically all have their leaves reduced to a dirty brown 
powder and many are merely bare sticks,’ young plants only a few inches 
high being attacked in August, September and October, the caterpillars webbing 
up the leaves at the top of the young shoot, feeding on them, and checking 
the growth of the plant. 
In confinement, a female moth laid 37 eggs between 8th and 10th October 
1909. The egg is elongate-oval, cylindrical with rounded ends, about 0°5 mm. 
long, light green when laid, gradually becoming yellowish, and pinkish just 
before hatching. The eggs are usually laid in the groove of the petioles of the 
leaves and nearly always on leaves near the top of the plant. On guar eggs 
were deposited alongside the raised veins on the under-surface of the leaf. 
The eggs may be deposited singly or as many as six in one place ; when several 
are laid, they usually lie lengthwise in the groove, touching each other. The 
larva hatches out after about four days, and does not eat the egg-shell. 
The newly-hatched larva is about 0°75 mm. long, cylindrical, light yellow 
with a greenish tinge; head larger than other segments, shiny, dark red 
brown ; prothoracic shield shiny, reddish-brown ; primary hairs comparatively 
long ; five pairs of equally developed prolegs. 
The full-grown larva is about 7 mm. long and slightly more than 1 mm. 
broad, green ; head shiny black ; prothorax black, with a large shiny black 
shield ; prothoracic legs black, mesothoracic and metathoracic legs green ; 
minute hairs scattered over segments ; five pairs of equally developed prolegs. 
On hatching from the egg the larve usually crawl onto the tender top- 
leaves, fold a leaf, live hidden inside it and so feed. They bite the leaf usually 
from the edge and go on eating until little is left to afford a shelter, then they 
leave the leaf and go to another. The leaf thus eaten withers and dries up. 
As they grow larger they bind two or three, or more, leaves together, the 
leaves retaining their flat shape. The larval life is about fifteen days. 
Pupation takes place either between.two leaves fastened together or in a 
rolled leaf or in the larval shelter of top-leaves bound together, the interior 
of the shelter being lined with a thin layer of silken fibre. The pupa is about 
5 mm. long, cylindrical, tapering to a point posteriorly, brown; the anal 
extremity prolonged into a process from the apex as well as from the base of 
