SUEFACB &EETLES. 



tei 



Fi&. 261. 



Surface Weevil. (Magnified.} 



pests are of very general occurrence throughout India both in field and 

 garden crops. They form a clearly defined group of pests, including 



insects of widely separ- 

 ated affinities, but 

 united by their peculiar 

 habits and methods of 

 feeding. 



All are adapted to 

 living on the surface 

 of the soil ; most are of 

 the dull brown colour of 

 the freshly ploughed 

 earth and are difficult 

 to find when at rest on 

 the surface : they in- 

 clude the surface beetles, small earth-coloured weevils, not exceeding one 

 quarter of an inch in length, similar to the species figured here : also the 

 surface grasshoppers, which are either flattened, with a rough upper 

 surface and exactly earth-coloured, or they are similar to the common 

 grasshoppers but coloured in brown so as to escape notice on the soil. 



The beetles live on the soil, hiding in cracks, under stones and in 

 burrows; they emerge daily and feed 

 on the young plants, being very abund- 

 ant at the time when the kharif or 

 rabi crops are sown. Their life histories 

 are unknown, the grubs being probably 

 borers in wild plants. The grasshop- 

 pers are similar in their life histories to 

 others of this group; they lay eggs in 

 the soil, from which the little hoppers 

 hatch; the whole life is passed in the 

 fields and under favourable circum- 

 stances they become very abundant. 

 Most breed rapidly and regularly, with 

 several broods, but some appear only 

 at regular intervals such as once or 

 twice in the year. All are herbivorous, 

 and their ravages in the established 

 crops are not observed as they are 

 not sufficiently numerous to do harm. 

 They arc injuriouB to germinating 



FKK 262. 



A common Ground Beetle that feeds 

 on decaying leaves and is mistaken 

 for a pest. (Magnified.} 



