26 Indian Museum Notes. [ Vol* III- 



in other suitable positions pretty commonly throughout the Regulation 

 Districts of Bombay from sea-level upwards. On the upper Ghats (as 

 at Mahableshwar), it perforce confines itself to rocks and buildings, for 

 big trees where it can build its nest in safety are scarce. 



A note written some years ago by Mr. M. H. Clifford, late of the 



Forest Department, has recently been found 

 Red spider. , , , • r» i a 



r amongst some old papers in Dehra. Ac- 



cordinfr to this note native hakims extract a kind of oil from the large 

 velvety red mites (Tetranychus sp.), commonly known as red spiders or 

 Birbhoti in the North- West Provinces. The oil is sold for medicinal pur- 

 poses at a high price, and even the insects themselves fetch as much as a 

 rupee per tola. It will be interesting to learn if anything further is 

 known of the medicinal virtues attributed to this mite. 



Mr. T. H. Middleton of the Baroda College, writing in August 



1891, notices a good deal of damage to sugar- 

 Insect pests in Baroda. , n , „. . . . , -p, ■. 



cane {tsaccharum ojjicinarum) on the Baroda 



College farm by an insect which is known locally as Narfcote, and which, 



from the description, appears to be the well known sugarcane borer Diatraa 



saccharalis. He also notices a voracious haiiy caterpillar from an inch 



to an inch-and-a-quarter in length, and red, brown, or nearly black in 



colour, which appears after the first fall of rain, and is very abundant 



for about three weeks, after which it disappears as suddenly as it came. 



It chiefly attacks young plants, and plants growing along the surface of 



the ground. It is known by the natives as Katra, and is no doubt the 



larvae of one of the Bombyces moths, many of which are injurious 



defoliators. 



In August 1890 specimens of paddy (On/za saliva) injured by insects 



were forwarded to the Museum, through the 

 Insect pests in Hooghly. -p.. , eT 11} -, ,. .. 



Director or Land Itecords and Agriculture, 



Bengal, from the Collector of Hooghly. With the paddy stalks were 



found specimens of the two Chrysomelid beetles Hispa auescens Baly and 



Aulacophora abdominalis Fabr. The damage is likely to have been chiefly 



due to the first of these insects, which is a well known rice pest in Lower 



Bengal. 



Specimens have been received, through the Central Museum, Madras, 



of some insects said to have proved injurious 

 Insect pests in South Arcot. , i , t, •;;• 



to chambu [reaciLlaria spicaia) and cholum 



(Sorghum, vulgare) in the South Arcot District in December 1891. 



The insects prove to belong to two species, the first of these is Nezara 



