298 



FAMILY CERAMBYCIDAE 





' 



FlG. 206. Larval galleries and pupal chambers, with 

 cocoons and beetles in sit it, of Ploccedcnts obcsus, Gahan, 

 in the interior of a stem of Butea frondosa. Siwaliks. 



Damage Committed in the 

 Forest. 



The damage done by 

 this insect is both to the 

 bast layer and to the tim- 

 ber of the tree it attacks. 

 Trees cut down in cold- 

 weather fellings will have 

 eggs laid in their bark in 

 March and April, and un- 

 less the wood is removed 

 before the ensuing rains 

 the larvae hatching from 

 the eggs will riddle it, and 

 render it useless for any 

 save firewood purposes ; 

 the weight of fuel obtained 

 from such trees is very 

 considerably lessened 

 owing to the large winding 

 borings of the larvae and 

 the enlarged pupal cavity 

 they eat out. The damage 

 thus caused to the timber 

 is probably usually of more 

 importance than the dam- 

 age done to the standing 

 trees in the forest, though 

 it must be remembered 

 that the insect will ovi- 

 posit in sickly standing 

 trees and thus injure them, 

 and even cause their death 

 when the insect is in any 

 numbers. In some locali- 

 ties green standing trees 

 have been found severely 

 attacked and killed by this 

 beetle. As the insect is to 

 be found in other parts of 

 the country, it necessarily 

 follows that it feeds upon 

 a variety of trees. At pre- 

 sent it has been actually 

 reported as taken from sal 



