220 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



which they lie up is also absent. I observed very much the 

 same thing, although over a smaller area and therefore 

 my observations were not so conclusive in the hot weather 

 of three different years in parts of the Dun and Terai 

 forests of the United Provinces, where the sal trees were 

 defoliated under the attacks of the caterpillar of a moth, 

 and a scale insect (Monophlebus). Now if this observation 

 is correct, and it remains for other sportsmen to cor- 

 roborate it, it becomes obvious that it is useless making a 

 shikar trip to a block of teak or sal forest at a period when 

 the area is completely defoliated. If you are under canvas 

 there is the added annoyance and discomfort that arises 

 from the habits of some of these caterpillars. Descending 

 from the trees by means of millions of silken threads, on 

 reaching terra firma they invade one's tent, get into one's 

 food, drinks, clothing and bed, and render life for the nonce 

 unsupportable ! I and others had the same experience one 

 year in the Dun with the scale insect above mentioned. 

 This insect, a large white apparition resembling a giant 

 wood louse, was literally in millions in the forest, and 

 appeared in its thousands in and all over everything we 

 possessed. And he was followed in his peregrinations 

 by a lady-bird beetle (Vedalia) and its grub which prey 

 upon the scale insect with avidity. This insect carried out 

 his shikar parties all over the precincts of the camp to 

 my great discomfort. In the end I had to shift the camp 

 outside the forest limits to get quit of these pernicious 

 attentions. 



Locust invasions, visitations that luckily only occur at 

 intervals which at present cannot be forecasted, may result 

 in areas of forest being completely stripped of leaves, green 

 bark, etc., all the undergrowth being cleaned off. I have 

 seen a block of forest treated in this fashion. It is, perhaps, 

 needless to add that it remained deserted by animals for 

 some time. I remember trying the locusts at dinner. The 

 natives spit them on little wooden skewers, a dozen or so 

 together, and then roast them. They proved very tasteless. 



More rarely, in the case of broad-leaved trees, an area of 

 forest may be killed outright as the result of insect attacks. 

 In the case of an extensive tract treated in this fashion, the 

 death of the trees will lead to the migration of a certain 

 part of the fauna. This is commoner and occurs over wider 

 areas in the case of coniferous forests. 



