24 THE AGRICULTURAL PESTS OF INDIA. 



Lepidoptera of Ceylon, vol. ii. pp. 70-106. In Calcutta, 

 the caterpillar feeds on the castor-oil plant, to which it is 

 said often to do great damage. In the half-year ending 

 30th June 1886, the caterpillars in three taluqs of the 

 Vizagapatam district caused considerable damage to the 

 crops of Sesamum orientale, Eleusine coracana, Penicillaria 

 spicata, and cotton. In the Vizianagram taluq the value 

 of the Sesamum crop destroyed was estimated atEs. 20,000 ; 

 and in parts of the Gajapati-nagram taluq this plant was 

 so badly destroyed that it had to be ploughed up and 

 other crops raised in its stead. Bain fell in June, and 

 the insects appeared soon after. Being innumerable, the 

 endeavours of the people to collect and destroy them proved 

 futile, though the only remedial measures that Mr. Wood- 

 Mason can suggest are for the ryots to destroy as many 

 eggs, caterpillars, cocoons, and moths as possible, and that 

 the castor-oil plant, the natural food, be grown in all 

 waste places. The caterpillars are known to the people 

 as the c Cumbly poochie,' two Tamil words meaning 

 'blanket insect/ and the ryots allege that their crops 

 suffer almost every year. The moth measures from 1-|- 

 to 2 inches across the extended wings, and from 1^ to 1^ 

 inches from the forehead to the end of the closed wings, 

 the female being the larger. The front wings are greyish- 

 brown, with six cross bands composed of irregular-shaped 

 dark-brown spots edged with pale yellow ; the hind wings 

 are red, with some dark-brown spots usually more or less 

 joined together so as to form three cross bands in the female. 

 The head, the thorax, and the legs are greyish-brown ; the 

 abdomen is red, with brown spots along the middle of the 

 back and along the sides. The caterpillar is dark brown, 

 with thick bundles of brindled hairs springing from 

 twelve longitudinal rows of warts. The pupa or chrysalis 



