PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 441 



Provinces in the West. Elsewhere the hoppers are found more or less 

 but not in such large numbers as to be considered as pests. In towns 

 such as Calcutta, the hoppers are known as green-flies which swarm in 

 milUons around arc lamps in the streets and in private residences. But 

 they have not been reported as yet as serious pests to rice. The question 

 is well worth studying and I am sure further study of such abstruse and 

 obscure points connected with the life-history, habits and seasonal 

 variations of the pests will afford material which will lead to the adoption 

 of such measures, both preventive and remedial, as would prevent them 

 effectively from laying a heavy toll on the country's produce and these- 

 by denying the patient and sturdy cultivator the fruits of his labour. 



Alternative food- plants. 

 Hitherto the hoppers have been found exclusively on green succu- 

 lent grasses growing in damp places in pond and river beds as well as 

 on grasses growing on field embankments in suitable localities. They 

 have also been found to some extent on millets, especially Kodon 

 {Setaria italica). Besides these, I am unacquainted with any other 

 foodplant on which the hoppers are found to live and to breed. 



Local names of the pests. 



In the Chhattisgarh Division of the Central Provinces the hoppers 

 are known under the common name of " Maho " or " Mahor " but 

 preferably the former. The local word conveys an idea of the blight 

 caused by the insects. Some cultivators nicknamed the hoppers as 

 " Maho " on account of the honey-dew exuded by them, which made the 

 leaves of the infested plants sticky. In the adjoining Oriya district of 

 Sambhalpur in Bihar and Orissa the pests are known as ' Daoni,' ' Ghung- 

 Jmtti ' or ' Dhana.' In the Balasore District they are known as ' Jhatkas.' 

 The Lushais call them the ' Kumthu.' Besides these, other minor local 

 names for the hoppers were a legion in the Chhatisgarh Division but 

 that most in common and familiar use was " Maho." 



Other insects associated tvith the leaf-hopjjers. 

 During 1915, prior to the appearance of the leaf-hoppers, Hieroglyphus 

 hayiian and Sogata spp. appeared in enormous swarms in the Central 

 Provinces and damaged the paddy crop considerably. Later on when 

 the hoppers appeared the following insects were also found in numbers 

 in the infested fields :— 



(1) Athysanus indicus, Dist. 



(2) Athysanus fusconervosus, Motsch. 



