194 Indian, Economic Entomology . [Vol. I. 



blackish brown, covered with short coarse black and white hairs or bris- 

 tles, with a flesh-coloured patch towards the head, and another towards the 

 end of the body ; the last three segments of the body are anteriorly flat- 

 tened as if cut off with a knife, this flattened portion forming a hard 

 circular shield, with which the larva plugs up the hole of the fruit 

 on which it lives. The pupa is brown, bearing some obscure black lines, 

 and is rounded throughout. It is fastened to the interior of the fruit by 

 the posterior end, and by a band of silk across the middle. Before chang- 

 ing to a pupa, the larva comes outside the fruit, crawls to the base, and 

 spins a strong web over the basal portion of the fruit and over some 

 considerable length of the attaching stem, so that should the fruit be 

 separated from the stem it will not fall to the ground. The larva then 

 re-enters the fruit, and changes to a pupa within. Ou emerging from 

 the pupa it must immediately crawl through the hole to the outside of 

 the fruit, as were it to delay doing so, its expanded wings would prevent 

 its escape. Several observers have noted that the larva is attended 

 by ants. The writer has, however, never seen ants in attendance, nor 

 has he been able to detect the special organs in the body of the larva 

 affected by ants : they may exist, however, and further notes on the sub- 

 ject are desirable. 



Every fruit that is attacked by the larva dies before it is full-grown 

 and has ripened, as the heart of the fruit is entirely destroyed by the 

 insect. Were this pest to increase largely in numbers, it would certainly 

 do a vast amount of damage to fruit, as is now the case with the Mango 

 beetle. 



The most effective remedy against this pest, if practicable, would be 

 to catch the female butterflies and to destroy them before they have laid 

 their eggs. When once an egg is laid on a fruit, that fruit is almost 

 certainly doomed. As a further prevention against attack for the 

 coming year, if all the fruits with holes in them were gathered and 

 destroyed (burnt or buried), there would be but few butterflies left 

 to lay eggs and to carry on the species during the following season. 



