Ko. I] Further Notes. 59 



species of which ave carnivorous in their habits, many of them feeding on 

 aphids (plant lice), and being on this account most useful to agriculture, 

 though the group also contains some species that feed on leaves. 1 It 

 would be desirable, therefore, to observe this insect carefully in order to 

 ascertain that it is really a pest, before taking measures to exterminate it. 



Specimens of a cockchafer (Melolonthini) , received from Dr. George 



Cockchafers. King, are to be found in the Museum collection. 



Dr. Anderson wrote of them 2 that they have proved 



most destructive to the public gardens in Darjeeling, and threatened to 



extend their ravages. 



The following extract is from a report by Mr, Jeffrey, forwarded by 

 Dr. George King, from the Darjeeling Gardens : — 



" They appear to form a cell in the soil, and when taken from it do not appear to 

 thrive. I made up the figures yesterday of what numbers were destroyed, and I 

 found, from nearly a month's work, they amount to 2,695,000, so that I have rid the 

 world of a goodly number." 



Dr. Giinther, of the British Museum, to whom specimens of the 

 insect were submitted, wrote 3 : — 



" The beetle is most likely Lachnosterna impressa (Burmister. Handb., IV, 2, 

 p. 314, Assam) : but the genus is a most difficult assemblage of very numerous and 

 closely allied species. Another species {L. pinguis, "Walker) is mentioned as destructive 

 to coffee trees by Haldane in his pamphlet ' All about grub,' Colombo, 1881." 



Specimens of the larvse, either of this species or of an insect very 

 closely related to it, were received in July 1881 from Mr. L. R. Forbes, 

 of Chittagong, with the information that it attacks the roots of paddy, 

 Jcachoo, and Indian-corn, emerging from the ground in July and August. 

 Paddy, which is covered with water in July and August, is said to be 

 unaffected. 



Some slight damage has been done during the past year, to deal- 



, , , wood boxes lving" in the godowns of the Museum, 



Strotnatium baroatum. J ~ ~ 14 o • 



by the larvse of the Cerambycid beetle i Stromatium 



harhahim of Fabricius; imagos emerged in March. The life history of 



this insect does not seem to have been yet observed in India. 



Specimens of the beetle Cicindela 6-punctata, Fabricius, have been for- 

 warded by the Collector of the 24-Pergunnahs, from 

 the Sub-divisional Officer of Diamond Harbour, 



1 Vide Westwood's " Modern Classification of Insects," Vol. I, p. 397. 



2 Letter dated 22nd May 1883. 

 s 17th November 1883. 



4 See Geinminger and Harold's " Catalogus Coleopteroruna," p, 2810. 



