﻿17.— 
  PRELIMINARY 
  NOTE 
  ON 
  WINTER 
  SPRAYING 
  AGAINST 
  

   MANGO 
  HOPPER 
  {IDIOCERUS 
  SPP.), 
  VERNACULAR 
  NAME 
  

   TELA. 
  

  

  By 
  M. 
  Afzal 
  Husain, 
  M.A. 
  (Cantab.), 
  Government 
  Entomologist, 
  Punjab, 
  

   and 
  Hem 
  Singh 
  Pruthi, 
  M.Sc, 
  Assistant 
  Professor 
  of 
  Entomology, 
  

   Punjab. 
  

  

  Idiocerus, 
  the 
  notorious 
  and 
  serious 
  pest 
  of 
  mango 
  inflorescence, 
  

   occurs 
  everywhere 
  in 
  the 
  mango-growing 
  tracts 
  of 
  the 
  Punjab. 
  It 
  is 
  

   especially 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  districts 
  of 
  Hoshiarpur, 
  Gurdaspur 
  and 
  

   Lahore. 
  The 
  species 
  that 
  are 
  commonly 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  the 
  Punjab 
  are 
  

   I. 
  atkinsoni 
  {British 
  India 
  Fauna, 
  Rhynchota, 
  Vol. 
  IV, 
  p. 
  186) 
  and 
  another 
  

   smaller 
  species 
  that 
  most 
  resembles 
  /. 
  clypealis. 
  The 
  identification 
  of 
  

   I. 
  atkinsoni 
  was 
  very 
  kindly 
  verified 
  by 
  the 
  Director, 
  Imperial 
  Bureau 
  

   of 
  Entomology, 
  London. 
  

  

  Amount 
  of 
  damage. 
  The 
  amount 
  of 
  damage 
  that 
  this 
  pest 
  causes 
  to 
  

   the 
  Province 
  can 
  be 
  estimated 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  a 
  garden 
  near 
  Shalamar,. 
  

   Lahore, 
  which 
  used 
  to 
  bring 
  to 
  its 
  owner 
  some 
  Rs. 
  6,000 
  per 
  annum, 
  has, 
  

   since 
  1912, 
  when 
  Tela 
  began 
  its 
  ravages, 
  steadily 
  gone 
  down 
  in 
  its 
  pro- 
  

   ductivity, 
  year 
  after 
  year, 
  and 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  years 
  it 
  has 
  

   not 
  produced 
  even 
  a 
  hundred 
  ripe 
  fruits, 
  and 
  this 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  

   it 
  has 
  been 
  flowering 
  profusely 
  every 
  year. 
  This 
  garden 
  covers 
  only 
  13 
  

   acres 
  of 
  land, 
  and 
  the 
  loss 
  incurred 
  annually 
  is 
  about 
  Rs. 
  6,000. 
  In 
  

   Gurdaspur 
  district, 
  a 
  mango 
  garden 
  may 
  sometimes 
  extend 
  over 
  eight 
  

   miles, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  whole, 
  nearly 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  cultivated 
  land 
  is 
  under 
  this 
  

   fruit. 
  In 
  the 
  Hoshiarpur 
  district 
  alone, 
  there 
  are 
  over 
  14,932 
  acres 
  of 
  

   land 
  under 
  mango-orchards, 
  and 
  this 
  fruit 
  is 
  the 
  principal 
  source 
  of 
  

   income 
  of 
  the 
  people. 
  About 
  this 
  district, 
  Montgomery, 
  in 
  his 
  Settle- 
  

   ment 
  Report 
  (1883) 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  " 
  when 
  mango 
  fruit 
  fails, 
  there 
  is 
  loss 
  to 
  the 
  

   district 
  of 
  two 
  lacs 
  of 
  rupees." 
  In 
  Lahore 
  district 
  also 
  there 
  are 
  many 
  

   big 
  mango 
  gardens 
  which 
  sufier 
  every 
  year 
  from 
  the 
  attack 
  of 
  Tela. 
  It 
  

   is 
  thus 
  not 
  difiicult 
  to 
  realize 
  that 
  this 
  pest 
  is 
  causing 
  an 
  immense 
  loss 
  

   to 
  the 
  Province. 
  

  

  Nature 
  of 
  damage. 
  Hoppers 
  that 
  survive 
  the 
  preceding 
  winter, 
  

   move 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  spring, 
  from 
  under 
  the 
  bark, 
  and 
  cluster 
  

   on 
  the 
  floral 
  buds, 
  where 
  they 
  remain 
  sucking 
  the 
  sap 
  during 
  the 
  growth 
  

   of 
  the 
  inflorescence. 
  The 
  female 
  starts 
  laying 
  eggs 
  when 
  the 
  blossom 
  

   heads 
  appear, 
  i.e., 
  about 
  the 
  second 
  or 
  third 
  week 
  of 
  February. 
  The 
  

   nymphs 
  are 
  met 
  with, 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time, 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  March. 
  They 
  

  

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