FAMILY BRUCHIDAE 251 



CARYOBORUS. 

 Caryoborus gonagra, Fabr. 



REFERENCES. Fabr. Ent. Syst. Suppl. 159 ; Stebbing, Depart. Notes, 365 (1906). 



Habitat. Throughout plains of India. 



Trees Attacked. Bauhinia racemosa : Central Thana, Bombay (G. M. 

 Ryan); Tamarind (Tamarindus indica); Calcutta; Cassia montana : South 

 Cuddapah, Madras; Cassia iniiritura : Cuddapah, Madras; Cassia fistula 

 (the Indian Laburnum): Calcutta; Ca.sua.rina.(Casuarinaequisetifolia}: Vellore. 



Beetle. The beetle is greyish or yellowish-brown. It is somewhat elongate, with a small 

 head consisting chiefly of two large prominent eyes ; antennae brown. Thorax triangular, 



narrower in front than behind, hind margin produced backwards into 

 Description. a point medianly. Elytra wider than thorax, with parallel sides, con- 



stricted behind, the apices separately rounded ; surfaces striate, with 



longitudinal rows of fine pits down them, and covered with short hair. The elytra rest flat 

 upon the large thick body, which is greyish in colour. The most striking characteristics about 

 the insect are the largely developed prominent femora of the hind legs ; these, as is the 

 case with all the legs, are covered with fine hair. Abdomen truncate behind. Length, 

 $ 5 mm. ; 6.25 mm. 



Larva. A small whitish curved grub with a distinct yellowish head. Length, 8 mm. 

 Cocoon. To pupate the larva encloses itself in a white cocoon. 



In BombaythebeetlesemergefromthejBazfAwmpods at the end of February 



and beginning of March. The exact position where the 



Life History. eggs are laid has not yet been reported, but it is probable 



that they are laid on the flowers or young forming pods, 



since the tree flowers between March and June. The larva on hatching out 

 burrows into the pod and lives in one of the seeds, the interior of which it 

 entirely cleans out, leaving intact only the external thin brown skin. When 

 full-fed it changes to the pupal state within this brown seed-skin, and this 

 stage would appear to be a short one, as larvae are found in the seeds at the 

 beginning of January. On maturing the beetle bores through the skin and 

 the pod-covering and escapes. This exit-hole is usually made near the base 

 of the seed-skin and near one edge of the pod-covering. I have never yet 

 found more than one of these beetles in any one pod, although there are 

 always several other holes in the pod, the work of other beetles, one of 

 which may perhaps be the male insect. The beetles do not all mature and 

 issue at once, as from pods sent me by Mr. G. M. Ryan and kept in Calcutta 

 adults issued during the latter portion of February, all through March and 

 April, and on into May. 



The insect was found attacking tamarind seed in Calcutta in July ici<n, 

 by the Secretary of the Agri-Horticultural Society. The insect was in all 

 stages of development (Indian Miiscn/n \otcs, iii, 34). 



In South Cuddapah the larva pupates Towards the end of June or 

 beginning of July. The larva here also lives entirely in the seeds of the 

 tree. 



