Na 1. ] 



Miscellaneous Notes. 



3S 



attack of a bemipterous insect probably belonoing- to the species Dysrler- 

 cus cingulalus. Th's insect is allied to tlie " Cotton stainer^' {Dt/sdercii,s 

 stitnrellus) of the United States, where it is said to puncture the cotton 

 bolls and injure the fibre, also puncturing" the rind of orang-es and 

 causing the fruit to drop. The remedies recommended for the American 

 species have been, poisoning- the insects by traps of sug-areane trash, 

 mixed with Paris g-reen or destroj'ing- them when collected upon piles 

 of cotton seed or orange peel, with hot water or kerosine and soap 

 emulsion. It is extremely doubtful, however, to what extent such 

 remedies will be found practicable in India, (The figure is that of 

 Oxycarenus Ingubris, much enlarged.) 



ifi _"« 



In October 1 890, from the Overseer of the Government Farm, Nagpur, 



,-,,,„ .• 1 • •K' were recei ved 



Cotton liuprestid in rvuffpur. , , ,, 



^ *^ cotton stalks 



tunneled by the 

 1 a r V se of a 

 Buprestid beetle 

 which has been 

 identified by 

 Mons.Kerremans 

 as a new species 

 of Sphenopfera 

 which it is pro- 

 posed to call 

 Sphenopiera gos- 

 Si/pii. The larvae 

 were reared in the Museum and produced imagos in November; the insect 

 was said only to attack the country varieties of cotton, the American 

 varieties escaping. With regard to the identification of the species 

 Mons.Kerremans writes : — 



"Lesespeces actuellement decrites de ce gfenre, efc babitant I'Inde proprempnt 

 dite sent au nombre de onze ; ce sont, cerosa Gmel. (= cBiiea F. = tricuspidata OL), 

 indica Cast, et Gory, orientalis Cast, et Gory, perroteti Cast, et Govj, pulchella Cast! 

 et Gory, angustata Thorns., lafertei Thorns., nigrescens Thorn?.., pi sciformis Thorns., 

 cupriventris Kerr., et cyaniceps Kerr, (ces deux derni^rs decrites dans un tout recent 

 memoire snr les Buprestides du Chota Nagpur). Parmi ces especes, U n'en manque 

 que trois a ma collection, ce sont lafertei, piceiformis, et pulchella et le specimen que 

 vous m'avez envoye ne se rapporte ni a aucune de mes especes ni aux descriptions des 

 especes qui me manquent. C'est done une espece nouvelle..,.Il se distingue des antres 

 especes par sa forme parallele, par sa tete aussi large que le thorax et ses yeux, 

 prominents, par son dcusson tres grand et cordiforme, et par ses tibias posterieurs 

 incurves. L'espece dont il se rapproche le plus est le sp. angustata, Thoms., mais celui- 

 ci a le front silJonne, I'e'pistome tout autrement conforme, et le dessous est d'un 

 cuivreux brillant tres prononce. Sa ponctuation generale est aussi tres differente." 



