

1917.] Some South Indian Cecidomyiids, 30] 



late myself on having found out the host-plants of the paddy 

 gall-fly, but on comparing freshly-bred specimens of all thes. 

 gall-flies side by side, 1 was forced to the conclusion that I 

 had to do with several different species altogether, each 

 confining itself to its own particular food-plant. Many of these 

 gall-flies have been sent to Professor E. P. Felt for accurate 

 determination. 



Between July and October 1916, I had opportunities of 

 visiting the Government Farm at Palur, S. Arcot District, several 

 places in the Bellary and Kurnool districts, and Samalkota and 

 Anakapalle in the Northern Circars. As leisure and opportu- 

 nities allowed, I continued my search for gall formations 

 among the wild grasses in these various localities The results 

 were rather surprising. Instead of the formation of the " silver- 

 shoot "on paddy being an isolated and extraordinary pheno- 

 menon, it became evident that it was one of common occurrence 



m many grasses. 



The following grasses were noted to be subject to the attack 



of gall-flies. As the time needed for collecting them in suffi- 

 cient quantities was not at my disposal, and breeding appliance - 

 were not at hand, the gall-midges could not be reared out in 

 i'll cases. Again^ the degree of parasitisation of the galls m 

 so high that the chances of rearing the flies were considerably 

 minimized. It would be verv interesting, if future worker- 

 in this line would try and breed out the flies from each gra^ 

 and have their identity established. 



1. Panicum fluilans, Retz.— This grass is semi-aquatic and 

 is found growing on field bunds in wet lands, on the banks of 

 canals, in the beds of streams and in shallow tanks It has 

 so far been noted by me onh in Coimbatore and Bellary IV 

 Wets and in Bangalore, (lulls bave been found on this gras 

 at Coimbalore and in the following places in the Bellary Dis- 

 trict, viz. Hadagalli. Kottur, Sirnguppa and Yemmiganoor. 

 The flies reared at Coimbatore and in the Bellary District wen 



'dentical. 



f Thelife-historv of this fly ' has been fully studied by me. ine 

 female scatters its 300 to 350 eggs singly along the pronounced 

 grooves of the upper surface of the leaves. The egg 3 are 

 elongate-oval, half a millimetre long, and slightly reddish m 

 colour. They hatch in about three days into tiny active n*«P*; 

 which crawl by instinct down the leaf and. insmuatmg themselvw 



between the leaf-sheath and the stem, creep down until t , 

 reach the growing tips of either the apical or the fflde W, 

 Each bud ia occupied onh- by a single maggot rhe shoot 

 begins to show a swelling in about a week or two and the 



h , ' Through the eourtesv of the Ag. Government B*««*gj (W 

 h p a tore, information has been received that this fly has been .denied r>y 

 ^ rof - iall as Dyodiplosis (r 8 eudhormo»,yia) fluvtahs. ». s P . 



