REVIEW. 183 



the first three. These are followed by others on Means of Defence, Com- 

 munication, Relations with Pla,nt8, Symbiosis and Parasitism and Tropisms. 

 We think all these would have been unnecessary if the idea of some sort of 

 text-book had not existed, for all the information contained therein could 

 have been got elsewhere and much more fully, though perhaps not quite so 

 pleasantly put and with illustrations and explanations drawn from the 

 Indian fauna. In chapters X and XI we come to the " economical " part 

 of the subject ; they deal with the importance of Insect Pests generally 

 and their Control. Further on, going more into detail, these Pests are 

 considered under certain divisions such as Caterpillar Pests. Crickets, 

 Grasshoppers and Termites, Bug Pests, Beetle Pests, Fly Pests, Household 

 Pests, Pests of Stored Products, each having a separate chapter. Then we 

 get a chapter on Insects in connection with Disease, one on Insects 

 directly useful to Man, one on Insect Parasites and Predators and, finally, 

 one on " Some Other Animals " in which we find mention of mammals, birds, 

 fishes, reptiles and frogs, &c., that are known to be helpful or harmful to 

 man and his possessions. Chapter XI is the longest and most important as 

 embodying more particularly the author's experience in the field — for it 

 is one of the Government Entomologist's first duties to collect data about 

 methods and devise means for the prevention or palliation of insect attacks 

 on crops. He has a good deal to say on the subject and points out that 

 little can be done in the absence of a knowledge of the insect in question 

 and a more or less complete acquaintance with its life history. And it is 

 just here that knowledge is wanting and every addition to what we have is 

 of importance. Hence to facilitate future work and acquaint us with what 

 has already been done by others, and to let us know the enemies of 

 particular crops and help us to recognize them, we are given lists, to finish 

 up with, of the common crops with the insects attacking each ; of plants 

 allied to each other and likely, therefore, to have the same or a similar 

 enemy and of the insects themselves in systematic order with pictures of 

 each insect and directions how to deal with them. 



There is nothing to criticize in the subject-matter of this book, there is 

 little, even, offering occasion for remark ; the latter, presumably, because 

 each chapter is necessarily very short and general. We are interested, 

 however, to learn that the habits and early stages of some Indian Mylabridce 

 are known at last. We are told that the larvae of Gnathospastoides rouxi, 

 Cast, (page 302) and Zonabris, sp. (looks like sidce from the picture, page 

 304) feed upon the egg-masses of the Deccan Grasshopper. The life 

 histories are evidently the same as of those of allied European species that 

 have been studied at home. Which explains why some species of Zonabris 

 are generally so plentiful in grass lands in this country where they have 

 been noticed, often in company with other members of the family, about 

 the month of September in Bombay, when they occur in great numbers, 

 and all in one place. But the discovery will sorely trouble some growers 

 of roses and other ornamental flowering plants, the flowers of which these 

 beetles devour with great avidity. We might mention that Platypria hys- 

 triv (page 316) commonly breeds upon Zizyphus rugosa, the " torn" or 

 " churn " of Bombay. In Bombay, also, all beetles of the genera Axpidt- 

 morpha, Coptocycta, Metriona (pages 317, 318) feed upon convolvulaceous 

 plants. From personal experience we are nearly certain that Batocera rubus 

 (page 324) or any other longicorn beetle, no matter what its size, does not 

 take more than the one year to go through all its changes. Stibara (page 

 327) attacks species of Argyreia, a convolvulaceous creeper and breeds in 

 its stems. We can corroborate the statement as to how Pangonia (page 

 361) bites, also from personal experience ; and the bite is somewhat painful. 

 The larvae of Asura conferta (page 367) and another (probably hilaris) feed 



