62 Indian Mtneum Notes. [ Yol. HI. 



" The area cleared by the caterpillars was not as a rule large, rarely extending so 

 much as 30 feet from the edge of the field inwards. 



"The colour varied considerably, brown, green and a sort of yellow all being found 

 The shape was the same, soft and smooth skinned. 



" In most villages the pest was looked on as quite a new one, but in one or two 

 places it was said to have occurred about three years ago. The natives were not aware 

 that the caterpillar eventually became a moth. They said the caterpillar could not 

 exist in moist ground and were confident that rain would stop the plague. They 

 firmly believe that the rain which actually fell heavily (at the beginning of January) 

 killed ofE the caterpillars, and the sight of the empty pupa cases does not persuade 

 them that the insect has flown. The pupa cases are found at the edge of the growing 

 wheat, where the caterpillars were last at work, embedded a couple of inches or so in 

 the soil. The cases are of a transparent brown " 



Preserved specimens of what appeared to be the same species of 

 caterpillar were subsequently forwarded by Mr. J, S. Gamble, Conser- 

 vator of Forests, Delira Dun, who had found the wheat fields in the 

 Upper Valley of the Tons badly attacked by it. The caterpillars were 

 noticed to feed upon the young unripe ears, and the villagers complained 

 much of the pest, but the inaccessibility of the locality rendered the 

 forwarding" of living specimens impracticable. 



As in most species of Noctues, the caterpillars possessed few dis- 

 tinguishing characters, but, so far as could be made out from comparison 

 of specimens preserved in the Museum, they would seem to be identical 

 with what were forwarded to the Museum from Tipperah, Bengal, in 

 November 1888 under the Native name lecla poka, also with specimens 

 forwarded about the same date as attacking Horra (Indian Millet) iu the 

 Madras Presidency. la the absence, however, of the adult specimens 

 these identifications must necessarily be somewhat uncertain. 



Pupiie, said to belong to the notorious Lecla poha caterpillar wliieh 

 attacks paddy, were forwarded to the Museum in 

 February ISO-i from Backerganj, at the instance 

 of the Director of Land Records and Agriculture, Bengal, They arrived 

 on 22nd February and it was found that three specimens belonging to 

 two species of Noctues moths of the genus Leucania, as determined in 

 the Museum collection, had emerged on the journey. One of these 

 belongs to the species Leucania extrania, (juen., already recorded in these 

 Notes in connection with injury to paddy. The second species is not 

 unlike Letocania extrania in general outline, but differs markedly in its 

 considerably smaller size, its white hind wings and in the peculiar strip- 

 ed marking on the front wings. It is at present unnamed in the Museum 

 collection. 



I 



