PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETINQ 885 



Although called root-eaters the food of many of these insects is not 

 definitely known. Many Melolonthid grabs, for instance those of 

 Anomala polita, have been reared wholly on farmyard manure, while 

 others are known definitely to attack living plants, e.g.. Anamala bengalen- 

 sis on sugarcane. Probably many of them depend on a variety of food. 

 In the case of caterpillars and termites of course there is no cause for 

 doubt. The food of TipuHds and Asihd lai-vae, which are ordinarily 

 taken to be root-eaters, is not definitely known in India. GnjUotalpa 

 africana is definitely known to be both herbivorous and predacious. 

 Of the Elaterid larvae some are certainly predaceous, e.g., Agrypnus 

 fuscipes, others may be both predaceous and herbivorous. 



Whatever their food the larvae which live underground in nature must 

 be kept in moist earth, and as the larval life of most of them is very long, 

 it is an advantage if the earth in the rearing cage can be kept moist for 

 long periods without being required to be changed. Numerous Melo- 

 lonthid grubs are reared at Pusa every year. They live for about a year 

 and are kept in glass jars and dishes and, if glass covers are used, it be- 

 comes hardly necessary to change the earth even once. Metal covers 

 are unsuitable for the purpose as they allow evaporation to go on. When 

 it is not necessary to change the earth there is very Uttle disturbance 

 of the insects. 



As the food of most of these underground larvae is unknown, attempts 

 to rear them from their young stage frequently fail. It is therefore 

 advisable to collect the larvae in the advanced state of growth and then 

 their rearing is almost always successful. When the food is known and ' 

 a supply of it can be kept up, they can be reared without much difficulty 

 provided the earth in which they are made to live remains always moist. 

 One Agrypnus fuscipes larva lived in the Insectary for over two years. 

 It was fed with caterpillars and Melolonthid and Scarabseid grubs. 

 Similarly Gryllotalpa africana was reared from the egg stage, being fed 

 with Uve fly maggots only for about 5J months. 



Sucking insects, which hve by sucking the sap from living plants — 

 the plant — sucking Heteroptera, Homoptera and Phytophthires — require 

 hving plants. We usually grow plants in pots and, when convenient, 

 keep the potted plants on which the insects feed in zinc breeding cages 

 (PI. 133, fig. 1) or cover the plants with muslin or silk gauze. Some of 

 them are however amenable to feeding in glass jars with portions of their 

 foodplants from which they can obtain enough juice. Leptocorisa 

 variconiis has been reared on ears of Setaria ilalica, Riptortus on pods of 

 Cajanus indicus, Nezara viriclula on pods of Cajanus indicus and Phaseolus 

 radiatus and Aspongopus on succulent stems of pumpkin. When they 

 get abundant juice they can be reared in this manner. In fact some of 



