PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIKD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 691 



"during which time the soil becomes soft and the young penetrate into 

 it on the ebbing of the tide. 



Water is not necessary for the existence of these crabs, since they 

 remain in the soil till they migrate to the sea in the following year, 

 nor do they travel in Burma to seek fresh or salt water as stated* by 

 Dr. W. T. Caiman, the Carcinologist of the British Museum, London. 

 The habits of the species are more terrestrial than aquatic and not 

 more aquatic than terrestrial as described in Mr. Kemp's Memoirs of the 

 Indian Museum referred to by Dr. W. T. Caiman. 



Although it is not exactly known to what depth they go down into 

 the soil after the harvest of the paddy crop and in the hot season, yet 

 from an examination of the infested fields, which was made on the 1st 

 March 1918, it is presumed that it is six to nine inches deep after the 

 harvest and nine to twelve inches deep in the hot season. On the 1st 

 March 1918 a large number of them was found eight or nine inches deep. 

 They live in the bunds as well as in the open fields. While digging 

 for the specimens of Varuna litterata, Metaplax dentipes was also found 

 along with the Varuna in larger numbers. In a space of about 16 square 

 feet, 47 Varuna and 150 Metaplax were dug out. Both the species 

 "lemain in the cracks and under the clods where the soil is moist. 

 The cultivators seem to be ignorant of the fact that the Vartma 

 ;and the Metaplax live together in the field and that the number of the 

 Metaplax predominates over that of the Varuna. 



It has yet to be ascertained which of the two species is really more 

 troublesome. The Metaplax may also be responsible for the destruc- 

 tion of the paddy sprouts, but the Varuna is most probably the chiet 

 cause of the trouble. The cultivators notice the annual migrations 

 of the adult Varuna to the sea and the ingress of the young to the fields 

 in masses and they hold this species alone responsible for causing the 

 delay in the agricultural operations which they complam of ; they are 

 probably right in this behef, as the sowing is possible after the migra- 

 tion of the Varuna, notwithstanding the presence in the field of the 

 Metaplax, which do not go to the sea like the Varuna. 



In the crab-infested localities, no nurseries are prepared or seedUngs 

 transplanted, as is done elsewhere in the Province, but the seeds are 

 steeped in water for four or five days and when they germinate and 

 grow to a length of | to | inch, they are sown broadcast. If the seeds 

 are sown before the Varuna quits the fields and the sprouts are eaten 

 up by it, the cultivators, who can afford to do so, buy seedlings at high 

 rates from uninfested localities and transplant them into their fields. 



* He stated this in his report of the Director of the Imperial Bureau to Entomology 

 British Museum, to whom I had referred. 



