440 lEOCEEDIXGS OF THE THIRD ENTOiXOLOGIC.'VL MEETING 



they exude a clear, thin hquid — the honey-dew — which, falling on the 

 leaves below, makes them very sticky. The adults of both the species 

 exhibit a strong predilection for light. 



Of the two species, NepJwtettix bipunctatus was the most predomi- 

 nant, and the observations regarding life-history, etc.. recorded hereia 

 relate mostly to N. bipunctatus. 



Life- cycle. 

 During September and October 1916, a hfe-cycle was found to occupy 

 from 17 to 25 days. The egg stage lasts from 4 to 6 days, and the nym- 

 phal stages were found to last for 13, 17, 19 and 21 days. In a specific 

 case under observation it was found that a female which matured on the 

 12th October 1916, began laying eggs on the 21st of the same month. 



Hibernation. 

 From a record extending over sixteen months at Pusa, it was found 

 that the hoppers hibernated during the winter in the adult stage. This 

 was found to be case at Pusa, where the climatic and other conditions 

 are so dissimilar to those prevailing in the rice tract of the Chhattisgarh 

 Division of the Central Provinces, that some time was devoted to finding 

 out the stage in which the adults of the two species hibernated during 

 the winter. The observations made there corroborated the observations 

 made at Pusa and it was found that the adults hibernated in a number of 

 green succulent grasses in dry pond or river beds or in such other 2:)laces 

 where moisture was available for the grasses to exist. A few adults 

 were also found in long grasses on field embankments and road sides. 

 But the number of adults collected was not very large. 



Distribution. 



The two species of hoppers have been recorded by Mr. Distant in the 

 Fauna of British India, Vol. IV, pp. 359-362 from Calcutta, Pusa, Eanchi, 

 Saraghat, Dacca, Ceylon, Borneo, Sumatra, Philippine.s, East Africa, 

 Natal and Durban. Dr. Matsumura has recorded N. apicalis to occur in 

 China, Japan, Malaya, and Europe. In the Pusa collection there are 

 specimens from Balasore, Chapra, Pusa, Kaukey Farm (Rauchi), Sam- 

 bhalpur, Raipur, Sakti, Janjgir, Drug, Sindewahi, Coimbatore, and 

 Chanphai in the Lushai Hills. 



Though the above record is fairly extensive, the hoppers have been 

 reported as serious pests to rice plants from Chanphai in the Lushai 

 Hills and a tract of country which may be said roughly to extend from 

 Balasore in the East to the borders of the Raipur District in the Central 



