36 The Tea insects of India. 



came to the lamps, the green flj remained undisturbed under the tea 

 leaves. 



In v\evr oi ihe ^&(iii]ii\h Chlorita flavescens is allied zoologically to 

 a species which attacks mango blossom, and which from an experiment 

 conducted in Saharunpore has been shown to be susceptible to an arseni- 

 cal :inseefc poison known to the trade as London purjjle, the writer of 

 this report suggested in the pages o£ Indian Museum Notes that this 

 preparation might be worth trying on tea bushes. It was ])ointed out 

 that great care would be necessary in any application of London pur2jh 

 to tea on account of the poisonous nature of tiie substance ; though in 

 oases where a garden had been shut up by the blight there would be no 

 danger in the experiment, provided no plucking at all were done until 

 after a new flush had appeared and the bushes had been well washed by 

 rain. Experiments were afterwards made with this and other insecti- 

 cides by Mr. M. K. Bamber, who has published an interesting account of 

 the result in his work on the Chemistry and Agricvlture of Tea, pages 

 250 and 251. The matter would seem to be worthy of further investiga- 

 tion, though the results so far obtained liave not been altogether pro= 

 mising. 



FULGORIDJE. 



? Phromnia marginella, Oliv. Homopterous larvse insufficient 



for precise determination, but thought to belong to this species, were 

 forwarded to the Indian Museum in February 1890 from a tea garden 

 in the Assam Dooars. 



Very similar larvse were sent to the Museum in October 1890 from 

 a tea garden in tlie Mungledye District, Assam, with the information 

 that they were feeding on the bushes and retarding the flushes, the 

 whole garden being badly attacked. 



Unfortunately the specimens from Mungledye cannot now be found. 

 In recording the matter in Indian Museum Notes at the time, the writer 

 of this note referred the insect to the species Flata conspersa, Walker, 

 which is somewhat allied to Fhromnia marginella, Oliv. Since then 

 the Indian Museum has acquired undouVjted specimens of the larvse of 

 Phromnia marginella, and comparison of these with the specimens from 

 the Dooars has not disclosed any distinction of specific importance. 

 As, therefore, both sets of specimens from tea in Northern India are 

 likely to belong to the same species, they may conveniently be treated 

 together under the heading of Fhromnia marginella, for they are both 

 undoubtedly related to this species, though the specific identity has not 

 been made out absolutely in either case. 



The most striking feature connected with the larva of Phromnia 

 marginella is the dense white fluffy, secretion with which the body i& 



