682 PKOCEEDIXGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL JIEETIXG - 



embankment througli the rice-fields under water. Crab-lioles were 

 similarly present on all mounds and embankments in the midst of the 

 fields. The crab-holes were deep holes underground, each with a large 

 mass of earth thrown out of its mouth, much like, though very much 

 larger than, the casting of earthworms. The local people reported 

 that as it was the end of the season the crabs were taking shelter in these 

 holes where they would remain till the next season. 



At Munni, in walking through the jjlots from which the water had 

 receded but which still had small pools of water here and there, a 

 medium-sized crab was observed in the act of cutting a rice-plant 

 in ear. The plant was sheared off entirely about three-fourths of an 

 inch above the soil across the third internode from the roots. The cut, 

 not exactly transverse or smooth but somewhat lacerated and oblique, 

 extended for about one- third of an inch in length. No portion of the 

 stem was observed to be eaten. The crab was disturbed by our approach 

 and it moved away, thus making the water turbid. It sat buried in 

 the substratum of mud in such a manner that it was altogether hidden 

 from view and to locate and catch it became difficult. This specimen 

 got mixed up in the general lot. But so far as can be remembered 

 it was Potamon (Acanthopotamon) martensi, Wood-Mason. At one 

 place, about a foot or a little more under water, a plot about one-fourth 

 of an acre in area was observed in which the crop in ear seemed 

 to have been thinned and many plants were floating on the surface of 

 the water. The owner of the plot ascribed the damage to crabs. The 

 plants were cut near their bases and the incision seemed to be caused 

 by crabs. At another place which was under about three to four feet 

 of water, floating plants could be collected which were similarly cut 

 by crabs near the base. It was evident that the crabs lived at the 

 bottom of the water and as practically during the whole of the rice- 

 growmg season the entire area remained submerged, the greater portion 

 of it under several feet of water, the crabs were quite out of sight and 

 reach. The people ascribed no damage to crabs in the earlier stages 

 of the rice plants and said that gro\\ai-up plants were attacked and 

 always in patches here and there. 



The children of a class of local people known as Mushahars were 

 asked to collect some crabs for specimens. Five of them, two girla 

 and three boys, all about 8 or 9 years old, volunteered at once. It 

 was not easy to locate and find out the crabs in the rice fields. The 

 children resorted to the following modvs operandi. There were numer- 

 ous crab-holes by the sides of roads and bunds and by the edges of the 

 receding water. The children thrust their whole arm into those situated 

 near the edges of water and pulled out the crabs quickly. Every hole 



