FAMILY CURCULIOXIDAE 435 



The condition of the Baldhoti and Kalimath plantations in 1909, 

 especially the latter, clearly shows the danger arising from and the 

 difficulties to be faced in connection with the state of the district P. longifolia 

 forests. I was given to understand by the Commissioner of the Kumaun 

 Division that District Officers were engaged in forming plantations of 

 P. longifolia. There can be little hope of their proving successful unless 

 the destruction going on in the Civil forests is put an end to and an effective 

 check on the increase of the beetles thus established. 



In Shillong careful attention will have to be paid to this insect if it is to 

 be prevented from acquiring a strong hold over the beautiful Finns khasya 

 woods surrounding the station. My inspection in 1906 showed that the 

 heavy and unregulated fellings being made in these woods would inevitably 

 lead to a large increase in the numbers of this pest. 



Ichneumon sp. -The grub of this fly is parasitic upon the weevil larva, 

 feeding upon the fatty tissues of the latter and causing 



Parasitic and j ts death f rom exhaustion after it has reached full 

 Predaceous Foes in 



North-West development. 



Himalaya. Fly. Small, yellowish in colour, with four iridescent 



wings. Body curved and armed with three long fine 

 hairs or styles at posterior end. 



Larva. A minute white grub almost translucent in colour, with head 

 pale canary-yellow. 



Life History. I have found this insect but sparingly in Piniis longifolia. 

 The only stage taken is that of the mature Ichneumon fly, which was found 

 in the characteristic pupal chamber made by the weevil larva. It is probable 

 that the fly deposits its eggs close to those laid by the weevil in crevices of the 

 bark of the tree or in the neighbourhood of or on the newly hatched weevil 

 grub. I have not yet discovered whether the Ichneumon grub feeds on th^ 

 weevil larva as an external or internal parasite. The weevil grub is evidently not 

 killed until it has finished the construction of the pupal chamber. It then 

 dies, and the hymenopterous parasite pupates. The mature fly evidently 

 issues from the tree at the same time as the weevil beetles, since both were 

 found maturing or mature and leaving the tree at the Baldhoti Plantation 

 near Almora in the first week of June. 



There is a good deal still to be learnt about this most useful parasite. 

 Exactly where the eggs are laid and whether more than one Ichneumon larva 

 parasitizes each weevil grub are important points to ascertain. Also whether the 

 insect, as is probable, passes through the same number of life-cycles as its host. 



Cuckoo-wasp. The small Cuckoo-wasp figured in pi. \.\xvi, fig. 2, was 

 taken by myself from one of the pupating-chambers of the weevil in a young 

 tree. The fly w r as just mature. It would appear probable that the insect 

 lays its eggs in the weevil grubs, and that the young Cuckoo-wasp larvae 

 feed upon and eventually kill the weevil grub-. The point is of great 

 interest, for it is the first record I have of the Cuckoo-wasps being of use in 

 the Indian forests as parasites of noxious tree-pests. 



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