FAMILY CHRYSOMELIDAE 



-'59 



Beetle. Oblong, thick-set. Head, prothorax, antennae, and legs 

 shining ; eyes canary-yellow, and mouth parts black ; elytra a bright 



salmon-pink in colour, each with eight spots, 

 Description. the upper and lower ones of which coalesce 



when the elytra are closed, and thus give 



fourteen spots. Beneath the basal median spot is a large round 

 or square one on each elytron, another large one beneath this, and 

 then the large apical one. On the outer margin of each elytron 

 are four smaller spots placed more or less equidistantly from one 

 another. These spots sometimes coalesce to form transverse 

 bands. Under-surface of abdomen canary-yellow, darker on 

 thoracic region. Length, 13 mm. to 17 mm. ; breadth, 7 mm. to 

 8.6 mm. 



FIG. 183. 



Podontia i^-punctata, 

 Linn. United Pro- 



Larva. Dirty yellow or yellow-brown, the body thick and 

 corrugated. The grub is thick, soft, and fleshy, and 'has a black 



shining head, a black patch on dorsal side of prothorax, and three pairs of black shining legs. 

 Length, 16 mm. The larva covers its body with its own excrement, and so has the appearance 

 of the droppings of a bird, and is thus able to escape the attacks of foes. 



Cocoon and Pupa. The grub pupates in a coarse earthen cocoon in the soil. This 

 cocoon resembles in size and shape a hazel-nut. 



In October 1895 Mr. C. O. Bateman of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, 

 presented specimens of this insect in all stages of larva, 



Life History. pupa, and imago to the museum, with the information 

 that the insect stripped the leaves from a Spojidias 



mangiferae tree in his compound in Calcutta. Mr. Bateman stated that the 

 beetles appeared almost every year when the tree was in full foliage in July 

 and August, and disappeared in October. The injury done is confined to 

 the leaves, which are consumed, the trees being often rendered leafless. 



Investigations have been made into the life history of the insect in 

 Dehra Dun. Here the beetle and its grubs also attack the Spomlnis 

 mangiferae. I first noticed this attack on a tree in September 1902. 

 The insects commenced work in the first week of the month, and by the 23rd 

 the tree was entirely leafless. So numerous were the insects towards 

 the end of the period that they looked like brightly coloured fruits on the 

 branches. 



Nearly every year between 1904 and 1909 I noted this attack in the 

 station, and a particular tree was either partially or entirely defoliated 

 each year by the beetles. 



As has been already pointed out, the larva is a most curious and 

 interesting subject for study, owing to the wonderful methods of srlf- 

 protection it has adopted. In many cases it is almost impossible to 

 distinguish the grub upon a branch from the excrement of a bird so Ion- 

 as it keeps still. The beetle when disturbed or alarmed feigns death and 

 keeps quiet for a considerable period. 



In the year 1906 I found this insect on the wing in April in the 

 Charduar Rubber Plantation in the Darning Division in Assam. I first 

 noticed the insect in some numbers in several compartments of the 



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