JOURNAL 



OP THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 



Vol. LXXIII. Part II. — NATURAL SCIENCE. 

 No. 2.— 1904. 



On the Life-History and habits of the moth Duomitus leuconotus, Walker 

 in Calcutta. — By E. P. Stebbtng. 



[Read 4th November, 1903.]! 



I propose In this paper to make a few remarks upon tlie life his- 

 tory of a moth, by name Duomitus leuconotus^ Wlk. about whose larval 

 and pupal stages little would appear to have been observed or placed 

 upon record. 



Duomitus leuconotus is one of the wood-boring moths belonging to 

 the family Cossidse. Turning to Hampson's Moths in Blanford's Fauna of 

 British India wafind that but six genera of this family are at present 

 known in India : Cossus, Duomitus, Azygophleps, Eremocossus, Phragma- 

 tsecia, and Zeuzera. This paucity in the known genera of the family is 

 carried into the described species of which a list of but twenty-three are 

 known, the numbers per family being as follows : Cossus 6, Duomitus 6, 

 Azygophleps 3, Zeuzera 5, Phragmatsecia 2, and Eremocossus 1. About the 

 habits of the majority of these species little is known. It is pro- 

 bable that most of, if not all, the larvae live and feed in tlie wood of 

 trees, and some of them may spend several years in this manner before 

 clianging to pupae. In most instances, however, neither the larvae nor 



i Publication delayed by proofs having to be sent to England. 

 J. II. 4 



