] 6 Indian Economic Entomology. [ Yol. H, 



caterpillavj pupal ease and moth of Sphecia ommatimformis, also a sectioa 

 of the tunnel containing' the cocoon of chips in which the pupa is 

 formed.) 



In addition to the -^geriid caterpillars a few Buprestid larvse were 

 forwarded by Mr. Cleghorn as found boring into the poplar trees, one of 

 them being also received from the Deputy Conservator of the Forest 

 Circle, Quetta. Nothing has been ascertained on the subject of the habits 

 of this insect, and specimens of the beetle into which the larvEe transform 

 must be procured before its identification can be determined. It is not 

 expected, however, that it will be found to play more than a subordinate 

 part in injuring the poplar trees. 



The description kindly furnished by Mr. F. Moore of the ^geriid 

 moth is as follows :— 



" Sphecia ommatictformis, n. sp., Moore. 



Male. — " Head above and thorax chestnut-red ; face yellowish, sides whitish ; 

 thorax with a prominent gamboge-yellow frontal collar ; abdomen chestnut red, each 

 segment with an anterior pale yellow band ; second and third joints of palpi gamboge- 

 yellow, the basal joint being bright chestnut-red ; legs beneath dark chrome-yellow, 

 legs above chestnut-red and darkest on the tips of the tibiae. Wings semi-transparent, 

 very pale reddish-ochreous ; costal edge, the veins, and cilise chestnut-brown ; antennae 

 chestnut-red. Expanse of wings 1| inch. Wabitat, — Baluchistan." 



This species is allied to S. dasypodiformis, Walker (Catal. Lep. Brit. Mus. VIII, 

 page 12)." 



The Toon Twig Borer, Magiria rolusta (Mierolepidoptera), which was 



^ \„ . „ described on page 35 of Vol. 1 of these Notes 



Toon Twig Borer. ... • /-> i i i 



as injurious to toon trees in Ceylon, has been 



observed during the past two years as extremely injurious to the toon 



trees which line the roads in Dehra Dun. The caterpillar mines the 



succulent twigs, constantly destroying the leading shoot, and causing 



adventitious shoots to be given out on all sides. This goes on year after 



year, the leading shoot being constantly destroyed, and the trees becom- 



ing a mass of stunted branches with no well defined trunk above a few 



feet from the ground. The insect is chiefly found in young trees, but its 



work is only too apparent in the majority of the old trees, very few of 



which have anything approaching a well-grown trunk. Nothing has 



yet been recorded of the life history of the insect beyond the fact that 



in Ceylon moths were reared in October from larvse which became full 



fed and formed their chrysalids inside the twigs in the latter part of 



September. The only measure which has been suggested for keeping- 



the insect in check has been the cutting off and burning of the affected 



shoots ; the number of trees, however, which are affected in Dehra Dun, 



makes any such treatment quite out of the question. 



