IN THE GARDP:N. 



buds, leaves and petioles and stripping 

 the rind from the green shoots. But in 

 years when this banded robber is 

 numerous, it by no means confines itself 

 to the mallow, but devours flower- 

 buds of all sorts, doing great harm to 

 cucurbitaceous and leguminous plants, 

 to rose bushes, and even seeks out trees ! 

 I have seen the green fruit of the Arto- 

 carpus peeled and stripped down to the 

 stone by half-a-dozen of these beetles 

 clustered on one fruit. 



The insect stays some 6 12 weeks 

 (July to October) in the garden and 

 during this period commits a considerable 

 amount of damage. The beetle lays 

 its eggs in masses either on the soil or on 

 grasses and low herbaceous plants. The 

 grubs hatching out from these eggs are 

 very active, but little is known about them. 



This orange and black ruffian requires 



a good deal of watching, and I have found 



the best way of dealing with him is to put 



on a few chokras to collect the insects 



57 



