68 Indian Insect Pests. [Y 1, I. 



last week and died, each after the other. As the Forest Officer of Buxar told me that 

 his mahogany trees had failed in the Reserve Forest, I tried to find out why my trees 

 had died, and for this purpose I cut down the dry trees and examined them. I found 

 the bark, up to about two feet from the ground, eaten by some worm. On removing 

 parts of the bark I found several white worms in the heart wood. These worms had 

 eaten into the wood and had killed the trees." 



On examination the borers were found to belong to two species of 

 insects, viz. (1) a few odd larvae of the moth Magira robusta, Moore, 

 which have been noticed elsewhere (see page 35) ; (2) larvae of a beetle, 

 probably one of the Curculinonidae, but which it has not been possible 

 to determine precisely in the absence of the perfect insect. The borers 

 have gone very little into the hard wood, and seem to have killed the 

 trees by making galleries close under the bark. 1 



The following is a report on the insect pests, from the Collector of 

 Nuddea, that were forwarded to the Indian Muse- 

 um by the Director of Land Records and Agricul- 

 ture, Bengal. — (See his letter No. 149, Agriculture, dated Calcutta, 17th 

 January 1889.) 



The specimens were found to be mostly dried up, and consequently 

 could only be precisely determined in a few instances. Some of the 

 pests referred to by the Collector of Nuddea, in his list dated 19th 

 November 1888, were unrepresented by specimens ; while in some cases 

 specimens were found of which no mention had been made in the list; 

 and in others it would appear improbable that the specimens forwarded 

 are really the cause of the damage of which they are accused. 



Kuti poka, said to attack the tender parts of the leaves, stalks, and 

 flowers of paddy from May to July, disappearing when heavy showers 

 fall. The box was found to contain some grains of dhan, with a number 

 of specimens of a small gram moth Tinea sp. and a single specimen 

 of a Hemipterous insec]; kindly identified by Mr. E. T. Atkinson as 

 Chrysopelta schlaubuschii. The small moths are probably purely granary 

 pests;; and the Hemipterous insect is unlikely to occasion serious injury 

 in the fields. 



Dheno foring, said to attack the tender parts of leaves, stalks, and 

 flowers of paddy in the month of May, disappearing when the cold 

 weather comes. 



The box was found to contain fragments of an Acridid insect (Or- 

 thoptera), which was too much smashed for precise identification. 



White ants, said to attack the roots, and at times the stems of young 



5 There doe? not seem to he any very definite remedy applicable to this kind of pest, 

 except perhaps the radical one of cutting away and burning the parts attacked; but it seema 

 to be pretty well established that boring insects of this kind confine their attack to trees 

 which have had the healthy flow of the sap interfered with, either through mechanical 

 injury, or through being in a generally unhealthy state. 



