PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIED ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 453 



it bites a hole at one end with its strong mandibles and comes out. In 

 several instances, adults were found to bite through two or three layers 

 of green voile cloth tied over rearing dishes and to escape. Shortly 

 after emergence the adult becomes active and begins flying about briskly. 

 The female may be distinguished easily from the male on account of its 

 size and the presence of a strong, black ovipositor. In confinement 

 the grubs have been found to develop cannibalistic tendencies, and on 

 several occasions the stronger ones have been found making a meal ofE 

 their weaker brethren. In several instances the grubs have been found 

 to be suffering from flaccidity, and there is reason to believe that the 

 disease, though not exactly Flacherie, is very much akin to it. At times 

 a large number of grubs has been observed to suffer from this disease. 

 This disease has also been found common in the Bollworms and it is 

 possible that the parasitic grubs, feeding by imbibition, become infected 

 themselves and die of the disease. A complete life-cycle has been found 

 to last from 9 to 13 days according to the time of the year. 



Allernative hosts of Microbracon iefroyi. 

 Besides the Bollworms, attention has also been directed towards 

 finding the alternative hosts of Microbracon Iefroyi. A large number 

 of caterpillars with Braconid grubs on them has been reared, and 

 these reared specimens were sent to Mr'. C. T. Brues for identification. 

 But the whole consignment of these very valuable specimens was lost 

 through submarine piracy during the war. Specimens of Microbracon 

 were reared from Platyedm gossypiella, Epicephala chalybacma, Eublemma 

 qvadrilineata, Adisura atkinsoni, Alcides leopardus, Carpomyia vesuviana, 

 Sylepta derogata, Phycita infusella, Anarsia melanoplecta, Chlumetia 

 transversa and Eublemma amabilis. This investigation was intended 

 to give a clue to the alternative hosts which might be utilized for breeding 

 or collecting the parasite when it was required for introduction in a new 

 locality or in an old one where the proportion between the host and its 

 parasite was found to be lower than the normal. 



Trapping of BoUworm Moths. 

 Along with the study of the parasites, attention has also been paid 

 to the trapping of the adults by mechanical methods. But these have 

 not as yet yielded any tangible results. No Bollworm moths have as 

 yet been trapped in the Andres-Maire traps or in the Meduse lamp-traps 

 set up right in the middle of or in close proximity to the cotton fields, 

 although Earias insulana and E.Jahia do frequently come in to light and 

 P. gossypiella occasionally. 



