PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 677 



For example, I visited Burma during the dry season and it is probable 

 that the time of the visit was one of the reasons why, in a country so 

 teeming with insect-life, so few insect pests were noted on Lantana. 



Again in some places, people did not know what Lantana was and 

 in general I found it rather difficult to get information as to where 

 Lantana occurred in abundance. In this connection I beg to acknowl- 

 edge the great help received from the Officers of the Forest and Agri- 

 cultural Departments in the various places visited by me. 



Furthermore, my examination could not be restricted only to areas 

 where Lantana occurred in particular abundance, for those places in 

 which it might be found in small numbers, are of equal and possibly 

 greater importance. Though the paucity in numbers might possibly 

 be due to the unsuitabihty of the chmate, or the texture of the soil, 

 or might be due to the plant having been quite a recent introduction 

 or due to the circumstance of the variety introduced being a sterile 

 one, it might also be due to the activity of insect enemies. Hence a 

 thorough study within a prescribed time of the enemies of this plant 

 in a vast country like India, becomes an impossibility. 



However, what we really want to know is whether there is in India 

 any insect that will be capable of readily acting as a check on Lantana, 

 es|tecially one of the nature of the Agromyzid of Hawaii. If such an 

 insect really occurred in India, it is very probable that it will have been 

 dEound breeding during the greater part of the year and traces at least 

 of its occurrence are bound to have been found even during the dry 

 season. 



Lantana insects. 



Numerous insects have been noted feeding on Lantana in India, 

 chiefly in the South. Most of them attack the flowers, the fruits or 

 the leaves, and there were very few found damaging the stems or the 

 joots. 



On the flotvers, the following are some of the insects noted : — 



Platyptilia fusillidactyla, the Plume-moth which is found in Mexico 

 and was one of the insects introduced into Hawaii ; two species 

 of Lobesia ; a Cacoecia ; Homona sp., etc. ; several hairy cater- 

 pillars, such as Diacrisia eximia, Olene mendosa, Ewproctis 

 scintillans, etc. ; the Noctuid, Hypena sp. ; two species of Euble- 

 mma ; two species of Geometrids ; two Meloids ; three 

 Cetoniads — Protatia, etc., which attack the basal part of the 

 flower-bunch ; four species of grasshoppers ; a Cecidomyiad causing 

 ^alls in flowers ; several Capsids ; and two species of Thrips, 



