Uo. li ] Miscellaneous Notes. 3 



in the larval stage, showing that the insect passes the whole of the cold 

 weather in the caterpillar stage witliin the stalks.' In the case of 

 Biatr/sa saccJiaralis the eggs are deposited at the base of the leaf sbeaths 

 and the larvee tunnel into the stalks, the chrysalis being formed in the 

 tunnels and several generations being gone through in the year ; and this 

 no doubt will also be found to hold good when the insect attacks maize and 

 sorghum. In their work on Field and Garden Crops Messrs. Duthie and 

 Puller notice that in the ease of maize this insect is known as Salai, while 

 in the case of sugarcane it is known as Silai, and in the case of 

 sorghum as Bkaunri, the poisonous effect which Sorghum vulgare shoots 

 sometimes have on cattle being attributed to it. 



* One moth emerged on 31st March, and four more on the 4th and 5th June, soon 



after heavy rain ; these all undoubtedly Belong to the species which habitually attacks sugar» 

 cane in India. In the North- Western Provinces, according to Duthie and Fuller, maize is 

 sown about May or June, and is reaped about the end of August; so the caterpillar pro- 

 bably lies up in the maize stalks from the time of cutting until the plant springs up again, 

 in the following June. In this case, on Dr. Kiley's estimate of thirty days for a generation, 

 about two or three generations would be passed through during the growth of the 

 plant, followed by a nine months' hybernation. The evidence for this, however, is in- 

 complete, and it is by no means impossible that intermediate generations may be passed 

 through in sugarcane, which springs up considerably earlier in the year than maize. 



