70 



PEOCEEDIXGS OF THE THIRD EXTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



We had a tuge swarm in 1918 but only on grass and the caterpillars 

 did not attack the cultivated crops. 



As I have said before, it will be very useful to accumulate exact 

 records of these outbreaks, as, by correlating these, we may be able to 

 discover some underlying cause. 



Laphjgrna exigua, Hb. 

 S. I. I., pp. 378-379, i. 240 ; Proc. Second Entl. Meeting, pp. 

 59, 75, 80, 84, 89, 97, 98, 132, 189, 206, 208, 209, 283, 287, 

 290, 296, 297. 

 Occurs everywhere throughout India, Burma and Ceylon, the larvae 

 often joining swarms of larvae of Spodoptera mauritia. The Hfe-history 

 is very short so that large broods are built up rapidly under favourable 

 conditions and considerable damage may be done, especially to lucerne 

 and occasionally to indigo. In Egypt this specie? has been noted as a 

 cotton pest, but has not been found to attack cotton in India. The 

 Pusa collection indicates the following range of localities and food- 

 plants : — 



Coimbatore 



■Poona 



Surat 



Central Provinces 



Cawnpur . 



Lyallpur . 



Abbottabad 



Peshawar . 



Saharanpur 



Bhagalpur 



Bogra (Bengal) 



Pusa 



Biinjal. 



Lucerne. 



Maize leaves, radish, bhindi. 



Linseed, safflower. pea. 



Gram. 



ShnflaJ, bcrsbn. 



Lucerne. 



Lentil. 



Jute. 



Lucerne, indigo, Mclilottis parviflora, mung 

 {Phaseolm nvingo), gram leaves, CeUia 

 coromanddiana, ambadi {Hibiscus can- 

 nabinus), Ainaranthus gangitus. Amaran- 

 thus bicolor, castor, jute, maize ears, 

 young sugarcane, cauliflower, mangold. 



Control is d fficult, owing to rapid increase and range of foodplants. 

 In the case of crops such as lucerne, shafial, bersim and indigo, cutting 

 may be adjusted to check damage, precautions being taken to prevent 

 swarming into adjacent areas. At Mokameh and Pusa this species 

 has been found attracted to the Andres-Maire traps put out for Agrotis 

 ypsilon. 



We have found it on coriander in Madras. 



It occurs on maize in Sura*-. 



