Indian Museum Notes. [ Vol* III. 



A very closely allied or identical caterpillar was sent to the Museum 

 in March 1891 by Messrs. Andrew Yule & Co., with the information 

 that it bad be?n doing a good deal of damage to the stems of tea {Camel- 

 lia theif'era) bushes in the Jorhat district of Assam. 



The species Zeuzera cnffece is figured and described in Moore's Lepi- 

 doptera of Ceylon, page 154, pi. 143, fig. 1. It was originally described 

 by Nietner in his pamphlet on the enemies of the coffee tree in Ceylon, 

 in 1X61. 



The following is an extract from Mr. Green's edition of Nietner's 

 pamphlet, page 14 — 



** This insect destro} T s many trees, young and old, the caterpillar eating 



out the heart : for this purpose it generally enters the tree six or twelve inches from 

 the ground, ascending upwards. Fortunately it is not abundant. It resembles the 

 caterpillar of the goat-moth of England, is two inches long, and as thick as ;i goose- 

 quill, nearly naked, of yellowish colour, hack red, head thoracic and anal plates black 

 ish; when full-grown the colours are light and dirty. The sickly, drooping foilage, 

 and a heap of globules of conglomerated wood-dust at the foot of a tree soon indicate 

 that the caterpillar is carrying on its destructive work inside. The chrysalis rests 

 three months, and its skin half protrudes from the hole when the moth escapes, 

 which is about February. The moth measures If across the wings, which are white, 

 spotted with steel blue ; the upper ones, with one large spot and numerous series of 

 small ones, placed in rows between the nerves ; the lower wings are less spotted. Thorax 

 with four spots mar margin. Abdomen variegated with blue. Legs blue, second pair 

 with white i'emora, third pair with white femora and tibiae." 



An excellent account of the insect is given in a paper by Mr. E. K. 

 Green, which appeared in the Ceylon Independent. According to Mr 

 Green's observations, the insect is. by no means uncommon on tea estates 

 in Ceylon, though the damage which it does is often ascribed to other 

 causes, as the caterpillar is very completely concealed in the interior of 

 the stems. The female lays her eggs in the hark, and the young cater- 

 pillars tunnel their way into the heart of the wood. They are generally 

 found in the first instance in the smaller twigs, but as they grow bigger, 

 they make their way into the main branches and stem, and often kill 

 young tea bushes down to the ground. Their presence may usually be 

 detected by the heaps of sawdust-like excrement to be found on the 

 ground under the bush. Mr. Green notices that according to his own 

 observations the moth does not emerge at any one particular time of the 

 year. 



In April 189] specimens were furnished by Messrs. Andrew Yule 



„,,.,....», & Co. of an insect which had proved destruc- 



lea defoliator in Jorhat. . l 



tive to tea [Camellia t heifer a) in the Jorhat 

 district of Assam. The manager of one of the gardens wrote that he had 

 boot getting 25 two-maund bags of these caterpillars picked off the bashes 



