4 THE RICE GRASSHOPPEE 



that, should the pest appear m any of these locahties in 

 the future, prompt measures may be taken to keep it 

 under controL 



As ah-eady noted, a number of different crops have 

 .been reported as being attacked by the Rice Grasshopper, 

 but, as far as Mysore is concerned, it seems to have con- 

 fined itself entirely to paddy and sugar-cane, in addition 

 to grass. This is explained by the fact that, in the 

 areas from which it has, up to the present, been reported, 

 these are the only two crops grown. The damage done 

 to paddy is twofold. It feeds upon the leaves and also cuts 

 through the upper part of the stalk ; as soon as the ears 

 have appeared, it does an amount of damage quite incom- 

 mensurate with the amount of food it actually consumes, 

 in that it eats through the paddy stalks and so causes the 

 ears themselves to fall. In a badly attacked field, large 

 numbers of these lopped ears can be found lying on the 

 ground after the crop has been removed. It is this loss 

 that the raiyats feel most keenly, the equally real, 

 though less apparent, loss through eating of the leaves 

 being much less felt by them. The paddy grains them- 

 selves are, as far as we have observed, never eaten by the 

 grasshopper. 



In the case of sugar-cane, the grasshopper confines 

 itself to the leaves ; in badly infested patches of cane, the 

 stalks may be practically stripped of leaves, mere shreds 

 being left here and there. It is needless to point out that 

 such a destruction of leaves in the early or middle stages 

 of growth is bound to have a very serious effect on the 

 crop. Damage to sugar-cane has, as yet, been but slight 

 and our observations on this pest have been practically 

 confined to it as it occurs on paddy. 



Before entering upon a description of the Rice Grass- 

 hopper, it may be well to explain briefly the chief 

 external characters of grasshoppers in general. The 

 accompanying figure (Text-fig. 1) serves to illustrate their 

 external structure. The body of an insect is divided into 

 three regions, head, thorax and abdomen, which, in the 

 case of grasshoppers, can be readily made out even by a 

 casual examination. 



Towards the upper part of the head, are to be found 

 a pair of slender antenna or feelers and a pair of large 

 eyes placed laterally. Below are the mouth parts, which 



