THE BIIERWA. 



227 



Another formidable burrowing insect is not strictly a cricket, but 

 placed in the next family ; it is known in Behar as the bherwa. 1 This 

 species makes burrows in the soil, usually near rivers and streams ; the 

 young are similar to the full grown insects but not winged ; the 

 appearance of the winged insect with its most formidable jaws is most 



FIG. 271. 

 The Sherwa. 



striking. This insect has been reported as injurious to the roots of 

 plants from several districts of India, cutting through the roots of crops 

 in its search for insects. Normally it lives near running water and is 

 not harmful, but exceptionally it infests fields and does much injury to 

 valuable crops such as tobacco. Its distribution is limited, Assam and 

 Behar being the localities most infested, but it has also been found in a 

 few widely separated localities in India. 



Burrowing crickets are extremely difficult insects to check, no good 

 method of destroying them having yet been found. Species that eat 

 crop plants can be poisoned, the attacked crops being sprayed with lead 

 arseniate. The crickets take the poisoned food to their burrows and are 

 there killed. This is effective and simple, a great diminution in their 

 numbers promptly taking place. Flooding out is possible under certain 

 circumstances and is the most radical method, the crickets being driven 

 to the surface and killed by crows and other birds. Digging the crickets 

 out is a slow and laborious method, but the only one available in some cases. 



These insects should not be confused with the common insects 

 which live on the surface of the ground and never burrow; the group 

 is a large one and only the burrowing species are really harmful. 



1 170, Schizodactylus monstruosus. Dr. (Locustido?.) 



