296 



FAMILY CERAMBYCIDAE 



Chica- 



(900 ft.) Thapal, Saharanpur District; Mango (Mangifera indica] 



cole, Ganjam, Madras. 



Beetle. The beetle is chestnut-brown in colour 

 above, clothed with a short dense tawny-grey pubes- 

 cence, and lighter-coloured 

 Description. below, the legs and an- 



tennae being of the same 



colour as the upper surface ; the head, upper and 

 lower edges of thorax, and outer and inner edges of 

 elytra, black. The head slopes forward at an angle, 

 the eyes are kidney-shaped, the antennae taking off 

 from the inner angle of the eye ; the first joint of the 

 antennae is large and swollen, the remainder long 

 and swollen at the nodes, where they are black ; 

 they are longer than the total length of the insect 

 in <J, of the same length or slightly shorter in !. 

 The thorax has a transverse ridge at upper and 

 lower edges, and the vertex is covered with small raised 

 irregular transverse ridges ; the outer edges are pro- 

 duced into a spine medianly. The elytra have a 

 distinct shoulder to the upper outer angle, the tips 

 being truncate and spined. In the $ the last segment 

 of the body projects beyond the elytra. The legs have 

 four-jointed tarsi, the third joint is deeply cleft in a 

 heart-shaped manner, the fourth joint being inserted 

 in the cleft near the upper end of the third. Length, 

 27 mm. to 45 mm. ; breadth 9 mm. to 15 mm. FIG. 2o$.Ploc(e(terns obesus, Gahan. 



Larva. The larva when quite small is elongate, <$ . * f. India. (F.B.I.] 



never curved, white in colour, with soft yellowish 



head and mandibles and twelve segments of nearly equal size. As it increases in size the 

 head becomes yellowish brown, the mandibles large, powerful, and black, and the body- 

 segments roundish, wrinkled, and thick, the hind ones tapering slightly, the prothoracic one 

 being the largest and hardest. Length, i\ in. to 3 in. 



Pupa. The pupa is yellowish white and has the shape of the mature beetle ; the elytra, 

 however, are soft, white, and curled down on the breast ; the antennae are held pressed over 

 the back, and the legs are pressed against the sides. The eyes are large, prominent, and black, 

 the tips of the mandibles also black, and the jointed palpi prominent. Length, i| in. 



Cocoon. The pupa lies free in a curious calcareous whitish cocoon, which to some 

 extent resembles a pigeon's egg. These cocoons are to be found lying at the ends of the 

 larval tunnels in the wood of infested trees (tig. 206). 



Observations made in the Siwalik forests in the United Provinces, 

 with others carried out in Sikkim, practically complete 



Life History. the life history of this insect for the more northern parts 

 of India, in the Terai, and foot-hills of the Himalaya. 



The beetles appear on the wing in March, and soon after pair and 

 lay eggs in the bark of either sickly or freshly felled trees. From these 

 eggs small grubs hatch out in April and feed for a time in the bast 

 layer, making winding galleries in the bark and sapwood. As the larvae 

 increase in size and their mandibles become stouter, they bore down deeper 

 into the sapwood, and spend the time until nearly full-grown eating out 



