Black B^l,g, White Bug. 267 



persons regularly on the look-out for a time, in 

 order that, if possible, its depredations may be 

 checked at the outset by some such treatment as 

 the above. 



From personal observation, I should say that 

 the black bug has a decided partiality for cold, 

 damp, elevated situations. It generally makes its 

 first appearance under the shelter of some large 

 rock, near a belt of forest, or at the bottom of a 

 damp ravine, or " nullah." It will sometimes hang 

 about for one season only, and then disappear as 

 mysteriously as it came ; on some high, cold estates, 

 however, it seems to establish itself permanently, 

 setting all attempts to dislodge or exterminate it at 

 defiance. At other times, a hot, dry season appears 

 to destroy it temporarily, while it reappears on the 

 return of the rains. 



White bug appears in reality to be a distinct 

 species of insect. It is a small, flat, oval insect, about 

 one-sixteenth of an inch long, covered with a white 

 down or fur, and having parallel ridges running 

 across its back from side to side, like the wood- 

 louse, though on a much smaller scale. It takes up 

 its quarters at the axils of the leaves and among 

 the stalks of the crop clusters, which it mercilessly 

 cuts off wholesale, either during the blossom stage 

 or just after the young berries have been formed ; 

 in the latter case, its operations may easily be 



