ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER 27 



the coarctate stage (resting larval stage) of which was 

 found in fairly large numbers during ploughing operations 

 in June 1910. Although attempts to rear adult beetles 

 from these larvae failed, it is very probable that they 

 belong to a species of Mylabris (or closely related genus) 

 adults of which v,'ere found later on grass and were caught 

 in the bags along with the hoppers. As the active 

 larv* were not found, it is not certain that they feed upon 

 the eggs of the Rice Grasshopper. We know, however, 

 that grasshopper eggs form the regular food of the larvae 

 of some species of blister beetles. As far as we are aware, 

 no species of blister beetles have ever been reared in India, 

 but w^e have succeeded in rearing larvae of the common 

 Mylabris pustulata up to the third instar by feeding them 

 upon the eggs of grasshoppers, and are, therefore, the more 

 ready to presume that the larvae found in the ground infest- 

 ed by the eggs of the Rice Grasshopper had been using these 

 eggs as food.^ 



Some few egg-masses exposed during ploughing 

 were found in which fungus growth had made its 

 appearance, however apparently too late to produce any 

 serious effect. 



During the developmental stages, no insect enemies 

 were observed. Among the higher animals, three were 

 discovered feeding upon the grasshoppers. These were 

 a small frog {Bana leptodactyla, Boulenger), a skink 

 {Mahiiia heddoiiil, Boulenger) and a lizard (Sitana ponti- 

 ceriana^ Cuv.). None of these, however, was present in 

 any considerable numbers. Fish, in the pools lying close 

 to the paddy fields, fed eagerly upon the hoppers when the 

 latter were driven on to the water. However, they can 

 hardly be considered as a check upon the spread of the 

 pest. 



Of parasites living on or in the grasshoppers during 

 the nymphal and adult stages, only two can be njentioned. 

 One of these is a small reddish mite found occasionally on 

 grasshoppers collected in the field. Whether these actually 

 do any serious damage to the grasshoppers infested, 

 may be doubted. No difference in vitality between 

 infested and non-infested grasshoppers was perceptible 



I Since the above was written the active larvae of a blister beetle have been found 

 feeding upon the eggs of the Jola or Deccan Grasshopper {Colemania spJtenarioides, 

 Bol). 



