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Indian Economic Entomology. [ Vol, I, 



closer examination it will be observed tbat the abode of tbe larvae is confined to a cer- 

 tain space on or around tbe trunk, aud further investigation will invariably prove 

 tbat portion to be either diseased or injured in some way or other ; so that a diversion 

 of the sap had occurred, partial decay had set in, and thus prepared the apparently 

 healthy trunk for tbe reception of the insects. 



" During the whole of my experiences, extending, as they do, to all the forests of 

 Kumaon and Gurhwal, from the Sarda to the Ganges, I have never, during the whole 

 course, found any other description of beetle, except the little Buprestis previously re- 

 ported, attacking sal wood. The larvae of both the Cerambycidae and Buprestidae 

 can easily be destroyed, when within the timber, by either pouring scalding water into 

 their holes, or by immersing the logs in a tank or in a stream of water for a couple of 

 days. In either case the soft-bodied grubs, which the pricking of a pin is able to 

 kill, will surely be destroyed. 



"Extremes of temperature are also unfavourable to their perfect development. 

 Hot dry winds or a too great humidity are conditions which affect them considerably. 

 Frequently I have left a colony in a log of felled timber, hoping on my next return 

 to find my little friends well and hearty ; but, alas ! for well-developed pupae I 

 have found nothing but dry skins, tbe little animals having evidently all perished from 

 the dry hot winds then prevailing. In other instances, instead of healthy grubs, I 

 have found them dead and mouldering from too great humidity. 



" From a series of observations I have been able to arrive at the following con- 

 clusions as to the conditions necessary for their development, — 1st, a peculiar first con- 

 dition of the timber is necessary, viz., partial decay, decomposition commencing in the 

 immature portions of wood ; 2nd, bark remaining, as essential to the reception of the 

 eggs, and consequent protection and nourishment of the young larvae ; 3rd, their ul- 

 timate growth and maturity dependent on the state of the wood being of moderate 

 freshness. 



" If, by undue exposure or other cause, the affected timber becomes too dry, the 

 grubs, if very young, die, as they are unable to subsist upon material which they can- 

 not triturate ; if grown to a considerable size, say from ^ to f inch in length, they will 

 at once avoid this state by boring directly towards the centre of the log in search of 

 a more moist residence. Here, having to subsist upon less nourishing matter than is 

 found immediately beneath the bark, their consequent development is meagre, and the 

 produced insects are barely one half the size of those reared under more favourable 

 circumstances. 



"In their larval state these insects are open to the attacks of both the Ichneumons 

 and Acari, both parasitical insects, the larvae of which feed upon the young grubs. 



"From these conclusions it will be evident that, although we cannot well avoid 

 the first condition necessai'y to the development of such timber-destroying insects, yet 

 it remains with us in a great measure to treat our felled timber so that the second 

 necessary state cannot exist, — viz., by removal of the bark from the wood before it can 

 have been operated on by the parent insect." 



Neocerambyx kolosericeus has been recorded as having 1 been found in 

 the Philippine Islands, China, and India ; while in the collections of the 

 Indian Museum are specimens from Calcutta, Murshidabad, Assam, 

 Naga Hills, Bangalore, Ellore, Kullu, Rangoon, Perak, Johoie, Anda- 

 man Islands, Nicobar Islands, and Sinkip Island. Its geograpical 

 range is therefore considerable. Specimens were sent to Eui'ope, where 

 they were examiued by Dr. Lameere, who determined them as Neoceram- 

 byx holosericeus of Fabricius. Gemminger and Harold in their Catalogus 

 Coleopterorum place this species in the genus Pachydissus and give the 



