96 ■ Indian llaseaut. Notes. [ Vol- IIL 



MISCELLANl^:OUS NOTES, 



la A[)iil 1S9-2 some galls found upon sjiruce fir {Abies SitiliJiiniia) 



trees near Chakrata in ilie North- Western 

 Gli-IIs on spruce nr. tj- i i. j. 1 1 i\t u j.^. 



^ Himalayas, were sent to tue Museum by the 



Director of the Dehra Duu Forest School. The g"alls were superficially 



very much like small fir cones. They were inhabited by aphids, which are 



Leliave 1 to cause the abnormal g-rowth by irritatinj*- the tissues of the 



shoot in feeding-. The insect appears to be closely allied ti the species 



Chermes coccineus, Ratz., which attacks fir trees in Europe in a similar 



manner. The Museum does not possess specimens of the European form, 



so some of tlu Chakrata galls have been sent to liurope for comparison. 



In an interesting communication received in May 1892, Mr. E. E. 



„ ^ „ „ , (ireen writes that an ant whieh has been 



iSotes iioiii Ceylon. • i .-g i 7^ / , 



iiiaeutinea as Dviylus longicornis some- 

 times attack potatoes [Solanum iiiherosuvi) to such an extent in Ceylon as 

 to make it impossible to grow this vegetable. Mr. Green found that the 

 some ant also attacks the roots of other garden plants, working so insi- 

 diously that the damage usually remains undiscovered until it is too late 

 to save the plant. Mr, Green suggests that the ant noticed on ]'age 4 2 

 of Volume II of these Notes, attacking potatoes in Burma, may perhaps 

 have belonged to the same species. Mr, Green also forwards some scale 

 insects {Coccidce) found on Tasmaniau apples which were being sold in 

 Ceylon. The scale contained living eggs, which would, no doubt, in 

 due course have hatched out producing active larvae capable of establish- 

 ing themselves in any place where they happened to light upon a suit- 

 ab.le plant. As Mr. Green points out, the find is an interesting one as 

 showing how easily insects of this kind may be introduced from enormous 

 distances. The scale insect in question is likely to have been Mytilaspis 

 pomoruin Bouche, which often does much damage in orchards. As, however, 

 the specin;eus of this species in the Museum collection are very pooi> 

 ones, there is some little doubt about the identification. (i) 



With regard to the identification of the Aphid noticed on page 46 



n, , , , ., of Volume II of these Notes as very iniur?ous 



to the mustard [Brassica] crop in Hooghly, 



Mr. G. B. Buckton, F.R.S., who has kindly examined the insect, writes 



1 The insect lias since been kindly examined by Mr. W. M. Maslcell, who conlirms the 

 identification, and notices tbut Ibe s^ppcies is one which attacks several trees in the ttmperate 

 zones; it is specially common upon apple trees and hawthoru in New Zealand. 



