JJo. 1. ] Miscellaneous Notes. 



caterpillar {Agrotis sujfusa, I think) well known to planters by the popular and signi- 

 ficant name ' dinger.' It eats the bark of the young coffee plants under two years 

 old, in a ring rightround the stem, sometimes just above, but generally just below the 

 surface of the ground; the result being that in the dry weather the plant withers 

 and dies, while in the wet weather apparently healthy and vigorous plants suddenly 

 snap and fall over with the first gust of wind. In this latter case occasionally a good 

 sucker is thrown out, which takes the place of Ihe original broken stem. I believe I 

 am well within the mark in saying that I have lost some fifteen thousand fine young 

 plants during the past year, and some idea of their numbers may be gained by my 

 informing you that I have destroyed by hand-picking, during tlie last two months 

 only, over 1,10,000. These were brought in by the coolies in all stages of growth from 

 little wee threads to big fat caterpillars an inch and a halt long and as thick as a lead 

 pencil. I am sending you by post a few specimens which I hope may reach you alive. 

 Hand-picking is not satisfactory, because in the first place, after a field has been 

 searched, plants can be killed by the 'Ringer' before the coolies get round to that field 

 again ; secondly, many very young plants are killed, by the searchers having exposed 

 their roots to the sun, as the grubs frequently retreat to a considerable depth in the 

 day-time; and, thirdly, it is an expensive way of getting rid of them, and is out of the 

 question if labour be scarce. I am applying kerosine emulsion to the stem close to, and 

 just below, the ground, with a band of quicklime en the ground right round, but an 

 inch or two away from, the stem. I am afraid, however, that the useful properties of 

 both of the above are too evanescent for the purpose." 



The caterpillars were reared in the Indian Museum and in the end o£ 

 February there einerg-ed moths belonging- to two very distinct species of 

 Noctues. One of these is Agrotis segetum, and the second, being hitherto 

 unrepresented in the Museum eollectioUj has been sent to Europe for precise 

 identification. The insect Agrotis segetum is well known in Europe as a 

 most destructive Cutworm : some doubt, however, has been expressed as 

 to its occurring in India. It may be useful, therefore, to notice that, be- 

 sides the specimen from Mysore, the Indian Museum contains representa- 

 tives of this species from Ceylon, and also from such localities along the 

 Himalayas as Sikkim, Kulu, and Solon, In the Catalogue of the Moths 

 of India also, by Cotes and Swinhoe, the insect is recorded from the 

 Nilgiri Hills, Mhow, Poona, Quetta, Dubrai, Hyderabad (Sind), and 

 Thundiani (Punjab). In England, according to Curtis (Farm Insects, 

 1860) Agrotis segetum passes through two or more generations in the 

 year, hybernating in the larval stage and forming its chrysalis in the 

 ground; and very much the same habits, no doubt, obtain in India. 



In the end of January 1891 numerous caterpillars of a Noctues moth, 

 belonging either io Agrotis snffusa or an allied species of Cut worm, were 

 received through the Bengal Agricultural Department, both from the 

 Jalpiguri district and also from the Santhal Pergunnas. In Jalpiguri 

 the insect is known as Bora, and is said to attack the roots of tobacco, 

 potato, and chilli plants, doing considerable injury. In the Santhal 

 Pergunnas the insect is known as Nagara cliandra, and is said to be 

 found in large numbers in the wheat fields, generally from three to five 

 inches below the surface of the ground. They are found chiefly in fields 



