110 THE AGRICULTURAL PESTS OF INDIA. 



leaves, and by so injuring these organs as to unfit them 

 for the performance of their important functions, checks 

 the growth of green shoots, prevents the bushes from 

 flushing, and thus inflicts upon him indirect loss. Both 

 the mite and the bug pass their whole lives on the tea 

 plant, and neither has been met with on any other plant. 

 Yet the tea-bug, known as the mosquito blight, has been 

 supposed to find shelter in the toon trees, planted along 

 the roads of the tea-gardens. Wherever there are toon 

 trees, the mosquito blight is said to prevail ; and the most 

 severely attacked tea bushes are said to be those near the 

 toon (Cedrela toona). 



Mr. K. Thompson mentions that a beetle deposits eggs 

 into the main stem of the tea plant at the root, and the 

 larva, so soon as hatched, bores into the pith and then 

 works up or down, the tunnel being of a size to ultimately 

 kill the plant. The larva undergoes the pupa change in 

 the tunnel near the root. 



A tea blight caused by the attacks of acari on the tea 

 plants, as also of other wingless insects, is said to be 

 prevented by planting hemp (Cannabis sativa). R. T. 



Tenthredo. The saw-flies and their caterpillars never 

 attack wood, but live entirely on leaves, though the 

 perfect insects are known to lay their eggs in the bark 

 of trees. E. T. 



Termites, or white ants, species of the insect family 

 Terrnitidce, do enormous mischief. Their attacks are 

 indiscriminate on all wooden, woollen, cotton, or paper 

 articles ; rarely growing plants, though the sugar-cane is 

 often injured by them ; and as they form galleries in their 

 destructive advances, their ravages are often undiscovered, 

 however much they may be watched. The queen will 

 lay 80,000 eggs in a day, for a long time. Many 



