I'EOCEEDIXGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 635 



outside opening of the burrow is covered with fine sandy-soil, and 

 consequently the middle of the cover is always elliptically depressed. 

 In the early morning, if there is no cover over the exit of the burrow, 

 there is almost always no insect living therein. 



During the rainy season we have sometimes found two or more 

 larvae in a burrow, this depending on the fact that the insect never re- 

 burrows into the soil m this season, but it seeks the old tunnels. This 

 does not, however, continue for long, and one or two days after the 

 weaker larva comes to the surface and then begins to make its own 

 burrow. It is also rarely seen on the surface save when the heavy rains 

 flood it out of its burrow. After the fifth moult the larva comes up as 

 the imago, and the duration of each stage of larva is from forty to eighty 

 days. From May to June of the next year the adult cricket emerges 

 and the male comes to the surface at dusk, and pours forth its strident 

 note, the sustained shrill vibration being very piercing and, as one ap- 

 proaches, beating in the ears with extraordinary intensity. At that 

 time the female comes there to couple with the male, and the ovaries 

 of the female gradually ripen towards September. 



This insect is injurious only to the young tea-plant, as it eats or 

 carries down into its burrow a great number of the young leaves or shoots. 

 It also attacks mulberry, cotton, Cryptomeria japonica. Acacia sp., 

 camphor, orange, rice-plant, Sesamum indicum, melons, cucumber, 

 egg-plant, potatoes, tobacco, sweet-potato, sugar-cane, and several 

 vegetables. 



The seedlings of the plants mentioned above usually suffer from 

 this insect (especially of the orange-tree) while Sesamum indicum, me- 

 lons and cucumber are very often destroyed nearly throughout the 

 field in the sea-coast districts. 



In vegetable gardens the floodmg of water is the recommended 

 control, but in tea-gardens the application of poisoned bait is the simplest 

 and most efTective method. This bait consists of sweet-potatoes, gin- 

 gelly-oil, and lead arsenate ; sweet potatoes must be cut about 7 mm. 

 cube, and then must be shghtly dried in the sun. The dried pieces of 

 sweet-potato are first dipped into the gingelly-oil and then the oil must 

 be rather clearly drained out of them ; afterwards they must be powder- 

 ed with lead arsenate. These small baits are placed inside the burrows 

 (one or more in each burrow) by means of long chopsticks in the early 

 morning. The buds or small shoots of bamboo are often used by the 

 natives instead of sweet-potato. These are more efficacious as a medium 

 for attracting the insect than sweet-potato, but the collection of bam- 

 boo-shoots is a rather laborious matter. 



