PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 383 



The season of activity, as in S. xantJiogastrella, lasts from about 

 March to October, the winter being passed in hibernation. This species 

 has so far been observed to occur in very small numbers at Pusa. Out 

 of a lot of hibernating caterpillars collected in February, 114 S. ocantho- 

 gastrella moths and only three of this species were obtained, these latter 

 emerging on 10th and 11th March. Similarly, out of a lot of caterpillars 

 collected in new sugarcane shoots in April, 22 S. xanthogastrella and 

 only one of this species emerged. 



Schcenobius bipunctifer, Wlk.* 

 Plate 43. 

 Foodplant — Rice. 

 This, is a specific pest of rice and occurs in all rice-growing tracts. 

 It has not yet been observed in any other plant. In Bombay Bulletin 

 No. 69 of 1915 — The Rice Stem Borer in the Konkan — Messrs. Kasar- 

 gode and Deshpande state that it has been observed to occur in the 

 following plants : — 



(1) Coix lachryma-jobi, 



(2) Ischcemum aristatum, 



(3) Andropogon odoratus, 



(4) Anthistiria ciliata. 



This statement, however, should be taken with caution as the hiber- 

 nating larvae found in them do not seem to have been definitely reared 

 and identified. Similarly in Formosa, Dr. T. Shiraki, in spite of his 

 very careful work on this insect, recorded in a large volume,"]' did not 

 succeed in tracing any other foodplant. 



In the neighbourhood of Pusa the moths have been observed to 

 oviposit in May on a large scale on a reed-hke grass, locally known as 

 chichori (Heleocharis plant aginea), growing in rice fields, especially in 

 marshy situations. Search has been rnade in these grasses at different 

 times in the year but no trace of any larva has been found in them* 



Schcenobius bipunctifer is active from about March to October or 

 November and the rest of the year is passed in hibernation in the stubbles. 

 Moths emerged in March from hibernating larvae collected between 

 December and March. Some larvae may continue to rest till about 

 May or June. On the other hand, young larvae hatched from eggs in 



* The name bipunctifer, Wlk., although ante-dated by incertdlus, WLk., is retained 

 for this species for the present. 



f Paddy Borer {Sclianobius incertdlus, Wlk.) ; Taihoku Agric. Expt. Station, Formosa,. 

 1917. 



VOL. I 2 C 



