86 Indian SJuseum Notes. [ YoL III. 



The stage in which the insect liybernates is still unknown, and 

 although theories and explanations have been given by many on this 

 point, I have never heard one which was not based on supposition, and 

 occasionally most absurd ones. One which is most generally believed 

 is, that the insect retires to the jungles in the cold season to feed on 

 other plants, when the pruners have removed from the tea bushes all the 

 leaves and stalks that were soft, leaving it nothing there to subsist on. 

 In this connection, I would point out that, it does not appear to have 

 been noticed to what jungle plant or plants it directs its attention, 

 and I myself h^ve looked in vain for them. It may be noticed, however, 

 that certain plants of the genus Mcesa (kindly identified for me by 

 Dr. King, C.I.E., etc., and Mr. G. Gammie, Officiating Curator of the 

 Herbarium, Botanical Garden, Calcutta, as M. montana (D. C), M. 

 ramentacea (A. D. C.) and M.indica (Watt) occurring in the Darjeeling 

 District from 1,5(10 feet to 5,000 feet, are blighted in much the same 

 manner as tea. The leaves of these plants will often be found covered 

 with punctures resembling those made by H. theivora, but generally 

 larger. The insect which causes these is not of the same genus as R, 

 theivora, although it apparently belongs to the same group and family. 

 My description of it is given below, also a comparison of its generic 

 characters with those of Eelopeltis {Signoret). 



From this description it will be seen that it is easily distinguished 

 from true Mosquito blight, although the action and metamorphoses 

 of both are nearly similar. I simply mention this in order to check 

 casual observers from hastily concluding that jungle-plants marked simi- 

 lar to blighted-tea, are necessarily caused by Mosquito blight ; whereas 

 the insect causing these marks would likely be found innocuous to tea, 

 as this one and many other allied species are. 



(Egg of ' JVlcesa' blight (capsidae) magnified 58 diameters.) 



My own theory regarding Mosquito blight in the cold weather is, that 

 it hybernates in a semi-dormant state near the root of the tea plant, 

 either in the larval or imaginal stage, and, that, as in the case of many 

 other insects, it does not require nourishment during this period. As soon 

 as the weather commences to get warm, its vigour returns, and it com- 



