The Tea insects of India. 37 



covered. This gives bushes virhere the iuseet clusters a somewhat 

 characteristic appearance which has been noticed by more than one 

 observer. 



The insect is a common one throughout Northern India. It has 

 been reported as feeding upon Elaodendron roxhurghii in the Central 

 Provinces, and is likely to have several other food plants besides tea. 



The figure shows the imago and half-grown larvae, both natural 

 size, of Phromnia marginella ; the larva divested of its flocculent 

 covering. 



The habits of Phromnia marginella were carefully observed by the 

 late Captain Thomas Hutton, who published a paper upon the subject 

 in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. XII, p. 898, 

 (1843), in which he described the insect under the name of Flata 

 limhata. The following summary is reproduced from Indian Museum 

 Notes ;— 



" The insect was found by Captain Hutton on the lower slopes of the Mussoorie 

 Hills in the North-West Provinces, the sugary secretion being only obtainable 

 throughout the dry weather from January to June, as it gets washed away by the 

 first heavy rain that I'alls upon it. According to Captain Hutton, the eggs hatch in 

 December, and the laws cluster like sheep upon the food jahmt. They feed by 

 gucking up the juices of the leaves, and moult several times, gradually increasing in 

 size until the setting in of the rainy season in June, when winged imagos begin to 

 emerge. In the imago the front wings are grass-green, with interior margins red j 

 the posterior wings are milk-white, the bodj^ is greenish, and the abdomen is generally 

 covered up with white flocculent matter similar to what is found upon the larvae. The 

 eggs are laid iu considerable numbers in the bark of the twigs, a slight swelling of 

 the wood often taking place where the eggs have been laid. The imagos move but 

 little from the food plant and often live on until after their eggs have hatched in the 

 cold weather. The larvse, and to a less extent the imagos, are covered with masses of 

 white flocculent matter, which is thought to be secreted by small glands distributed 

 over the abdomen, and opening by minute pores in the. integument. The sugary 

 matter is said to be excreted in a liquid state by the larvae, and drops on to the 

 leaves, where it hardens. Little is known of the xnetbod of its origin, but it is likely 

 to be secreted by the large gland-like organs which are situated on either side at the 

 extremity of the abdomen in the larvae." 



