4 
25-1-10—About 100 more seedlings cut. 
26-1-10—About 50 seedlings cut. 
27-1-10—About 70 seedlings cut. 
28-1-10—About 50 seedlings cut. 
30-1-10—About 10 seedlings cut. 
Total seedlings cut about 400 by 20 larve within 
10 days. 
On 6th February 1910 a search was made for the 
larvee in the pot with the following results :— 
4 larvee at depth of one inch. 
4 larvee and one pupa found at depth of 14 inch. 
4 larve found at depth of 2 inches. 
2 larve found at depth of 3 inches. 
Total 14 larve and one pupa —5 larve missing, pro- 
bably eaten by the other larve. This cannibalism is not 
at all rare in the case of G. hofmannseggi. Almost 
invariably where larve in considerable numbers are kept 
together in captivity some of them are killed and eaten 
by the others. 
A second experiment of the same kind showed a 
smaller amount of destructiveness, 20 larve in a pot 
with ragi seedlings (seven days old at the beginning of 
the experiment) cutting only fifty-five plants in 10 days. 
Here again an examination of the soil at the end of two 
weeks revealed 13 larvee and 2 pupe, the others in all 
probability having been destroyed by their fellows. 
With regard to the difficulty of finding the larval 
stages, which Lefroy mentions, it is not stated at what 
time of the year they were looked for... As will become 
clear from the life history to be presently described the 
larvee cannot be found in all seasons of the year but only 
during the hot weather when the beetles breed. Wher- 
ever the beetles are found during this season, a careful 
search in the upper two or three inches of soil will almost 
certainly reveal the presence of the larve sometimes in 
far greater numbers than the adults. In other seasons, 
especially the rainy season and the cold weather, usually 
the beetles alone are found and it was perhaps during this 
season that Lefroy looked for the larve. 
GONOCEPHALUM HOFMANNSEGGI. 
Description of adult beetle. 
Both the species G. hofmannseggi and G. depressuin 
are so much alike that it would be difficult to distinguish 
