THE AGRICULTURAL PESTS OF INDIA. 71 



para. This insect settles on horses and cattle, gener- 

 ally beneath the tail near the anus ; they select the 

 parts which are devoid of hair. It is known in the 

 New Forest of England as the forest fly. With its sucker 

 it punctures the skin of horses and cattle, and eagerly 

 sucks their blood. Man is not free from their attacks. 

 See Fly. 



Hoplosternus. A species of this genus is the common 

 chafer of Queensland. Its grub destroys the roots of the 

 sugar-cane, causing the leaves to become brown and dry 

 up ; the growth of the cane is arrested, and the first 

 high wind knocks it over. In this manner whole fields 

 of cane are killed. In the early stage, the larvae are 

 engaged in gnawing the root. In November and 

 December, the chafers, fully developed, appear above 

 ground in swarms ; inactive during the day, but feeding 

 eagerly at night. L. E. 



Hordeum vulgare, Linn. The most striking of the 

 diseases to which Indian barley is liable is that commonly 

 known as ' kandwa/ which is the result of the attack 

 of a fungus closely allied' to that which causes 'smut' 

 in English corn - fields. The first symptoms of the 

 disease is distortion of the ear and swelling out of the 

 stalk joints. Then a blackish dust makes its appear- 

 ance on the ear and at the stalk joints, which rapidly 

 spreads over them and entirely destroys the grain. 

 There are very few barley fields in which some of 

 these distorted, charred-looking heads cannot be detected, 

 and they are especially numerous in seasons of good 

 winter rain. D. & F. Vern. Jao. 



Huechys sanguinea, one of the Cicadidse, a small black 

 species, with blood-red abdomen, said to be a powerful 

 vesicant. 



