PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 615 



threads. In the case of P. corymbatus the adult female is dark castaneous 

 with a globular cottony ovisac consisting of fine white threads enclosing 

 the eggs which are chocolate-brown in colour, suffused at one end with 

 dark castaneous. 



From July to the middle of October 1918 P. corymbatus overran 

 the cotton plots to such an extent that the crop was damaged 

 to a very large extent. Like P. hirsutus, it also produces malformation 

 of the shoots of cotton plants. The apical leaves, although they do not 

 turn deep coppery green, become brittle and the stems swell up. The 

 heads become hard and compact and the affected plants are thrown 

 back in growth, and in a climate like Pusa (which is not a typically good 

 place for cotton-growing) the initial retarding of growth of plants at a 

 time when their growth should be very vigorous tells prejudicially on the 

 cotton outturn later on. The plants are unable to recoup the loss and 

 as such remain stunted in growth. The flowering is also retarded, and, 

 coupled with the damage done by the bollworms {Earias fabia and E. 

 insulana) the crop may to all practical purposes be said to be a failure, 

 and the present season's crop (1918-19) is illustrative of the damage done 

 by P. corymbatus, P. hirsutus, Machcerota planitice and Eriophyes sp. 

 {gossypii ?). From the middle of October onwards P. hirsutus prepon- 

 derates over P. corymbatus, and, if an examination is made, it will be 

 found that gravid females of both the species are to be found side by side 

 of each other on the cotton top-shoots. During July-September 

 both P. hirsutus and P. corymbatus fall a prey to Eiiblemma sp. 

 (near quadrilineata) , but the latter is. much affected by Drosoi^hilid 

 flies whose cocoons are to be found in the affected top-shoot in 

 numbers. 



The females when matured remain on the spot on which they had 

 fixed themselves in the larval stage. Sometimes they change their places 

 and cluster together on a stem, the base of leaf-stalks, or the axils of 

 leaves. When full-grown they are bright pink in colour dorsally as well 

 as laterally, covered with thin, cretaceous, white, flocculent threads. 

 On some portions of the plant a number of females may be seen laying 

 eggs side by side of each other. The ovisac consists of white cottony 

 threads and covers up the female with eggs completely. The ovisac 

 on account of its milk-white colour becomes a prominent object against 

 the greenish background of the leaves, or the russet-brown colour of 

 the stems or the russet-yellow of the leaf-stalks, and as such can be easily 

 spotted and collected. The female lays a large number of eggs and in 

 one instance the number of eggs was found to be 232. The cretaceous 

 white ovisac, if removed from the pygidial end of the female, grows again 

 and the flocculent material covers up the eggs. The female, if disturb e^j^ 



