The Tea insects of India. 



11 



Tlio fig-nie, wliicli is after Moore, shows tlio inotli, lar/a, and cocooii, 

 all natural size. 



The caterplllai' si)ii>s a cocoon amongst tlie leaves, and Green recorda 

 tl)at the pupal stage lasts for two or three weeks. The eggs are likely 

 to be laid upon the tea plant, but neither the locality of ovi-position 

 nor the number of generations in the year seems as yet to have been 

 aseertained* 



LlMACODID^* 



Limacodidre caterpillars (nettle grubs) have been reported as attack^ 

 ing tea alike in the Dooars, Assam, and Ceylon. They feed upon the 

 foliage and can be recognised by their cUrious shig-like appearance. 

 They are mostly brightly coloured and armed with nrticating spines which 

 are capable of inflicting an unpleasant sting. When full grown, the 

 caterpillar forms oround itself a curious potato-like case which is a very 

 characteristic feature of the family. Here it transforms into a chr}'- 

 salis, from which, after a period of repose, the moth emerges. The 

 species hithereto recorded as attacking the tea plant are as follows : — 



(1) Thosea (Miresa) COtesij Swinhoe. Pupal cases very similar 

 to those of this species, but insufficient for precise identification, werC 

 sent to the Indian Museum in October 1889 from a tea garden in the 

 Dooars where they bad been found upon tea bushes. 



The spceici! itself was afterwards describKl by Colonel Swinhoe from 



