PROCEEDINGS OF THE XHIKD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 929 



be remedied by careful field selection, but the insect attack is more difficult 

 to check even if the cultivator would try to depend upon his own seed 

 without going to a Maniari for it. It is therefore necessary to investigate 

 the nature and extent of injury by insects alone, and pulse-seeds were 

 first taken in hand as being likely to be solved easier than most ether 

 store-house pests. 



In the year 1914 Farm-grown pulse-seed was collected under careful 

 supervision of the following five varieties, (1) pecs, (2) ual (Lolichos 

 lablab), (3) htr {Cajcmus indicvs), (4) liilthi (Lolichos biflmus), (5) gram 

 [Cicer arietinuin). 



They were fully dried and kept in sealed kerosine tins to prevent 

 external infection. The tins, when opened at the end of the year, showed 

 that gram and kulthi escaped attack from Bruchids totally but the liir, 

 ual and peas were attacked, the peas least of all. This helped to show 

 that the infection need not necessarily come from old infested seed»of 

 previous years but may also come from the field direct. In the year 

 1915 a large number of plants of each kind were kept under close observa- 

 tion from the time of their flowering. Eggs of all insects known to 

 lay their eggs on the pods were carefully brushed away daily, but all 

 efforts during the whole year to isolate the eggs of Bruchids proved use- 

 less. A variety of different adult Bruchids were however caught in the 

 flowers of tur, ical and peas. These were identified by the Imperial 

 Entomologist as belonging to three different species, B. affinis, B. ihech- 

 romcB and B. chinensis (Pachymems chinensis). The dry pods on several 

 plants other than those under observation showed clean-cut round holes 

 on them very much like those found upon stored pulse-seeds. There 

 was therefore no doubt that the Bruchids did breed on the green pods 

 on the plants in the fields, feeds of these plants kept in glass-topped 

 boxes developed some more Bruchids during the summer of 1915. 



During the following season Bruchids reared from stored seeds were 

 enclosed in paper bags along with growing pods on potted plants. The 

 Bruchids laid their eggs freely. The pea Bruchid, B. o-ff^ms, laid its 

 eggs anywhere about on the outside of the pods singly, but the lur Bruchid, 

 B. tlieobromcs, restricts itself solely to the depressions found on the inr 

 pod. B. chinensis would not lay eggs on any of the common pulses. 

 The Bruchids reared from these eggs fitted very well with the identified 

 specimens from Pusa. The shape and size of the eggs of these Bruchids 

 made it possible for me to search for similar eggs in the field and to my 

 great satisfaction I was able to find simUar eggs in the field. In both 

 these cases the adults have been caught in the flowers. The same have 

 now been reared from eggs in the field. The eggs are from two to two 

 and a half millimetres long, round at the end and slightly bent on one 



