112 ImUan Museum JS! of cs. [ Vol. Ill, 



bi-own amongst the surrounding foliage^ and uJtiniiitely lost their leaves, 

 but a new flush of leaves soon appeared. When full fed the caterpillars 

 were said to have let themselves down by silken strands and to have 

 formed cocoons in the ground. 



The species llyhlcea piiern^ Cramer, has previously been recorded as 

 attacking teak in Lower Burma, ns well as in Debra Dun, North- 

 western Provinces, and in the Kulsi plantation in Assam, so probably 

 occurs throughout India. 



Injury by the caterpillar of the Noctues moth Jcliaa melicerte, 

 ,. , Drury, was reported in August 1892 from Dehra 



Dun in the North-West Himalayas, and in Oc- 

 tober of the same year from the Cuddapah district in Madras. 



In the rase of Dehra Dun a considerable amount of damage was done 

 1 olh to callow trees [Sapium sehifervm) and to tea. The caterpillars 

 appeared shortly before the commencement of the rainy season and 

 began by eating the leaves of the tallow trees. When these were 

 stripped they let themselves down on to the tea bushes beneath and 

 attacked them in a similar manner. Specimens were forwarded both 

 from the Forest School and from Mr. Leslie Rogers. The latter noted 

 that the caterpillar stage occupied from fifteen to twenty days and the 

 pupal stage about ten days. The insect seems to have disappeared 

 almost as suddenly as it came. 



In the cafe of the Cuddapnh district the insect was reported as 

 doing a good deal of damage by defoliating castor-oil plants. The 

 specimens from which the identification of the species was determined 

 were furnished to the Museum through the Collector's oflBce. 



Mr. F. A. Skuse, of the Australian Museum, Sydney, who has made a 

 The identification of tlie ^P^cial study of Nemocera, has lately examined 

 mosquito. some specimens forwarded to him from the 



Indian Museum of the common brown mosquito of Calcutta. He identi- 

 fies the species as Cnlex pijnens, Linn, said to have been introduced from 

 Egypt, anil now occurring throughout Australia, America, New Zealand 

 and the old world. The fact is of interest, as the Indian form does not 

 appear to have been previously identified with certainty. Kepresenta- 

 tivcs of the striped black and white mosquito, which is almost as great 

 a nuisance in the day time, in Calcutta, as the brown mosquito is at 

 night, have been forwarded to Mr. Skuse for favour of identification. (^) 



(') It has since been determined by Mr. Skiise as a new species of Cnlex for which he 

 proposes the name C. aliopicfus. His description will be published in a subsequent number 

 ot these Notes. 



