300 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XIII. 



the hollow tube, and, boring a hole at the tip with its frontal 

 spines, partially projects out. The adult now emerges, and 

 flies away, leaving the empty pupal skin at the tip of the 

 hollow shoots This disease is found in paddy generally only 

 in the rainy season and is altogether rare in the dry season crop. 

 As, even in places where paddy is not raised in the dry season, 

 the fly re-appears on paddy with the advent of the rains, it is 

 evident it cannot depend solely on paddy and must have an 

 alternate food-plant, presumably some perennial wild grass, 

 wherein it tides over the dry weather With the object of find- 

 ing out such host-plants a scrutinizing search was made among 

 the various grasses in the wet land area of the Central Farm and 

 \v r as attended with rather remarkable results. Never was the 

 paradox that "a man may keep his eyes wide open and yet not 

 see " more truly illustrated Panicum fluitans is a very common 

 grass in the wet land area at Coimbatore. growing abundantly 

 on the field bunds and along the banks of channels. Throughout 

 the year, except in February and March, a gall -midge breeds in 

 this grass causing gall-formations in profusion, 20 to 30 galls 

 sometimes having been found to occur on one single plant. Yet 

 this common grass did not draw my notice, till by chance one day 

 I tumbled on it in the course of my search for the egg-masses 

 of Oxya velox. Again, no grass is more familiarly known or 

 more abundant than Oynodon dactylon, — u Hariali". This is 

 also attacked by a Cecidomyiid fly which affects the tips of 

 shoots and causes the formation of a body of the shape of 

 a miniature pine-apple. This object is in reality a collective 

 gall from which later on 3 to 8 and sometimes 12 or more 

 hollow shoots appear, each giving rise to a* fly. These con- 

 spicuous objects were not taken notice of, and^ if at all they 

 were, they were believed to be caused by fungi. 



These are instances of how one is apt to overlook very 

 obvious things and one may well imagine Nature crying out in 

 extreme pity— like Aunt Betsev Trot wood, in ''' David Copper- 

 field "-" Blind, Blind, Blind ». 



At Coimbatore, after very careful search, three grasses were, 

 in the first instance, found to exhibit such formations. They 

 were : — i . 



(1) Panicum fluitans . 



(2) Cynodon dactylon. 



(3) Ischaemum ciliare. 



Quite 



ted 



also in the following three grasses at Coimbatore, viz 



♦ • 



(5) „ pertus 



(6) Apluda varia. 



choenanthus 



When 



4-u 7l &«■**« "*^ mat uotoci on some or tnese gi<*ao^» 

 the excitement of the discovery, I had the temerity to congratu 



