f20 I'EOCEEDIXGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



The fungus covered the puparia completely and destroyed them. 

 At least from a number of puparia covered over by the fungus not a 

 fcingle adult emerged. On some leaves the parasitic fungus had formed 

 round yellow hemispherical globules, very much like those of Ceroplastes, 

 and these were tilted ofi the leaves easily as soon as they were either 

 jerked or twisted round leaving whitish round patches which became 

 conspicuous against the black back-ground on the leaves produced by 

 the black fungus. 



The insects are known as Mashi, Bamni or Popli in Gujarat and 

 LaM in the United Provinces and some parts of Bihar and Orissa. The 

 adults are tiny, fragile insects with a pale body, prominent black eyes 

 and a pair of mealy-wings. The adults are active and may be seen in 

 numbers on the apices of unopened cane leaves or on the lower surface 

 of leaves. They have not been seen to fly long distances but when 

 disturbed they fly actively from plant to plant. They seem to prefer 

 the brcad-lcaved sugarcane varieties to those with short, thin leaves. 

 They seem to be active from August to the end of March and appear 

 to be afi'ected prejudicially with hot winds which blow during May and 

 June in Noithern India. Eggs are laid during the winter, and nymphs, 

 puparia and adults may be seen during December, January and February. 

 The pest seems to be active from August onwards, and a large number 

 of adults may be seen on the apical unopened leaves early in the mornings 

 from 7 to 9 a.m. After that they disperse and may then be seen on almost 

 all the parts of the plant. The female is distinguished readily from 

 the male in being more robust and less active than the male. Copula- 

 lion takes place end to end. The male on approaching the female 

 shakes its wings rapidly whilst the female remains stationary with her 

 legs stretched out. In one instance they were observed to remain in 

 copulation for three and a half minutes, when the male flew away. 



The eggs are laid in a line near the midrib or in any part of the lower 

 surface of the leaf. In exceptional cases the eggs have been seen laid 

 on the upper surface of the leaves. Otherwise they are laid invariably 

 on the lower surface of leaves. The eggs are either continuous or broken. 

 They are deep castaneous or dark black and as such appear prominently 

 against the greenish background of the leaves. If the female is dis- 

 turbed at the time of egg-laying the eggs are laid in small clusters on 

 various parts of the leaf. At times, when a large number of adults 

 emerge, as is generally the case from August to December, the under- 

 sides of leaves contain a large number of eggs. The eggs are laid mostly 

 on the apices of unopened leaves, but they are also laid in numbers 

 en the old leaves full of nymphs and puparia. . The number of eggs 

 laid varies greatly. In one instance a female began laj'ing eggs a^ 



