26 Indian Museum Notes. [ VoL IIL 



in other suitalile ])ositions pretty commonly throu<j;liout the Regulation 

 Districts of Bombay from sea-level upwards. On the upper Ghats (as 

 at Mahableshwar), it perforce confines itself to rocks and buildings, for 

 big trees where it can build its nest in safety are scarce. 



A note written some years ago by Mr. M. H. Clifford, late of the 



Poorest Department, has recently been found 

 Eed spider. , ,1 • r « 1 * 



^ amongst some old papers in Uehra. Ac- 



cording to this note native hakims extract a kind of oil from the large 

 velvety red mites {Tetranychii& sp.), commonly known as red spiders or 

 BirbJioti in the North- West Provinces. The oil is sold for medicinal pur- 

 poses at a high price, and even the insects themselves fetch as much as a 

 rupee per tola. It will be interesting to learn if anything further is 

 known of the medicinal virtues attributed to this mite. 



Mr. T, H. Middleton of the Baroda College, writing in August 



1891, notices a good deal of damage to sugar- 

 Insect pests in Baroda. - rv / jr- • > i 1 -n i 

 cane [oacGiiarum ojjicinariim) on the Joaroda 



(College farm b)'' an insect which is known locally as Narlcote, and which, 



from the description, appears to be the well known sugarcane borer Diatrcea 



saccharalis. He also notices a voracious hair}'^ caterpillar from an inch 



to an iuch-and-a-quarter in length, and red, brown, or nearly black in 



colour, which appears after the first fall of rain, and is very abundant 



for about three weeks, after which it disappears as suddenly as it came. 



It chiefly attacks young plants, and plants growing along the surface of 



the ground. It is known by the natives as Katra, and is no doubt the 



larvae of one of the Bornbyces moths, many of whi^h are injurious 



defoliators. 



In August 1890 specimens of paddy [Onjzn sativa) injured by insects 

 were forwarded to the Museum, through the 



Insect pests in Hoosrhly. ,-,• 1 c t i i> 1 i * ■ i; 



Director or Land Kecords and Agriculture, 

 Bengal, from the Collector of Hoo^hly. With the paddy stalks were 

 found specimens of the two Chrysomelid beetles liispa cenescena Baly and 

 Aulacojikora abdoniinalis Fabr. The damage is likely to have been chiefly 

 due to the iirst of these insects, which is a well known rice pest in Lower 

 Bengal. 



Specimens have been received, through the Central Museum, INIadras, 

 of some insects said to have proved injurious 



Insect pests in South Arcot. ^ , 1 , -n -n • • 



to cnambw {renc.iitaria spicaia) and ckoluni 



[Sorghum vulcjare) in the South Arcot District in December 1891. 



The insects prove to belong to two species, the first of these is Nezura 



