WHlTil BOllER. 183 



behave normally ; they may lay unfertilised eggs, they may lay no eggs, 

 or few, or the full number contained in the ovary may be deposited 

 irregularly. In natural conditions the eggs are laid a few at a time 

 scattered over some area, each egg cluster being carefully finished 

 off. In captivity this is not possible. Dissection of mature females shows 

 that there are about one hundred eggs in the ovaries which appear to be 

 uniform in size and fit for deposition ; immature females will contain from 

 sixty to seventy large eggs and others in various stages of develop- 

 ment; probably one hundred is approximately the number of perfect 

 developed eggs, and in normal circumstances the majority of these are 

 probably laid. 



The males die after coupling, the females after egg laying ; the 

 moths that can be caught in the fields are freshly emerged males or 

 females that have not laid eggs. 



The eggs are attacked by parasites, as are also the larvae. 



There are three methods of checking the pest : 



(1) The eggs can be collected on the young plants especially when 

 the first moths come out at the first warm weather. These eggs should 

 not be destroyed but be put in a tray or dish standing in a larger dish 

 of water or into a tray with a gutter of water round the rim. The para- 

 sites hatch out and fly away, the caterpillars that hatch being unable to 

 cross the water and dying. In this way the parasite is not destroyed, 

 but continues to do its good work in the canes. 



(2) The young shoots can be cut out when they are seen to wither, 

 and the insect destroyed with the shoot. This is exactly similar to the 

 remedy for moth-borer. 



(3) The bunchy tops of the canes which are attacked can be cut 

 out and used as fodder. The last is probably necessary only in bad 

 attacks. 



The pest has been found commonly in Behar and in parts of the United 

 Provinces. It is also known in Java. The moth has a wider distribu- 

 tion in India and will probably be found in sugarcane throughout 

 the plains. 



The Sugarcane Fly. 1 



A dull straw-coloured insect, about half an inch in length, with a 

 conspicuous upturned proboscis, which is found abundantly in the canes ; 

 it leaps and flies with great agility ; the female is conspicuous by a mass 

 of white material at the end of the body. This fly is not difficult to 



1 147. Dictyophara pallida. Don. (Fulgorida.) 



