rROCEEMXGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 355 



for boriiig insects. Therefore in the investigation of these pests we have 

 to iuchide for observation not only the cultivated grammeous crops but 

 also the wild grasses and sedges which can possibly serve as alternative 

 food-plants. The endeavour to trace their occurrence in alternative 

 food-plants, however, has so far been confuied principally to the neigh- 

 bourhood of Pusa. Some of the wild grasses have been observed to har- 

 bour borers which do not, or have not yet been found to, occur in the 

 cultivated crops ; while among the borers of the wild plants there are 

 others which, although principally confined to their wild food-plants, 

 occur occasionally in the cultivated crops. The borers which are at 

 present found only in the wild grasses may be considered as potential 

 pests of allied cultivated plants and should very properly be included in 

 any inquiry on borer pests of gramineous crops. 



The inquiry has been in progress for the last two years and is far 

 from being complete and the present note must only be regarded as a 

 preliminary one. As will appear later on, we have recorded the borers 

 of twenty-nine gramineous and two cyperaceous plants, but of all these 

 the borers of only two of them, viz., sugarcane and rice, have been under 

 systematic observation. There are numerous other plants of these two 

 Natural Orders which have yet to be examined and it is certain that at 

 'least many of the thick-stemmed ones among them will prove to be 

 alternative food-plants of the borers of our gramineous crops. 



The Agents of Damage. 



Among the msects which bore the stem of sugarcane, etc., there are 

 some which live in the soil and gaaw into th* stem from outside. They 

 do not Uve inside the stem and therefore cannot, strictly speaking, be 

 called borers. But the effect of their attack is in most cases similar to 

 that of attack by the borers proper. Moreover, they appear along with 

 and at the same time as the borers. Therefore, in order to be able to 

 obtain an approximate idea of the share of damage caused by the borers, 

 not only all insects but also other agents affectmg the plants with similar 

 effect and simultaneously with the borers have to be taken into considera- 

 tion. We have to include : — 

 I. Fungal diseases. 



II. External agents of damage, i.e., insects which do not live and feed 

 uaside the plants but attack or gnaw into them from out- 

 side. 

 III. Borers which live and feed inside the plants. 



