20 Indian Museum Notes, [Yol. IV. 



and can suspend itself by this when it wishes to do so. It unites the outer and 

 furthest developed leaves of the young shoot by silk threads in order to form a 

 protective covering for itself, and the developing bud on which it feeds. The 

 eggs of the insect were not found, but with one exception only one larva was found 

 in each case, 



" The buds, as a rule, had grown about | inch or i inch in length and some- 

 times more before their further development was stopped by the larva. 



" This seems to point to the egg being laid in the bud at the end of a terminal 

 or side shoot in the rains or autumn ; and to the &^^ (a solitary one) being laid in 

 the middle of the bud, or at any rate not at the base. Some leaves are developed 

 before the egg is hatched, and the larva emerges. It should be noticed that the 

 bud scales, which form the protective covering of the bud, during the. winter are 

 pushed off as a whole by the developing bud, and thus keep the free ends of the 

 needles together, and it is only when the young shoot has developed to some extent 

 from I to 3 inches that the bud scales fall off or are pierced by the needles of the 

 young shoot. This method of development no doubt helps the larva to make his 

 protective covering. 



"The chrysalides, which were gathered about the second week in June, deve- 

 loped into moths in the beginning of July. The exact dates cannot be given. 



•' One larva, which turned into a chrysalis on the night of the yth-Sth June, is 

 not yet a moth (7th July), so that they probably take a month on an average to 

 develop from the chrysalis to the moth. 



" The chrysalides seem to be very constant in length. The average of five 

 measured was 0*25 inches. The wing cases, antennas, and eyes of the moth are 

 clearly visible in the chrysalis. 



" The wing cases are about half as long as the whole chrysalis, which is light 

 yellow when young, but matures to a light brown. 



" The abdominal portion of the chrysalis shows seven segments. Three of these 

 lie between the wing cases and the remaining four are quite clear of the wing 

 cases. 



" Each segment has two rows of small prickle-like protuberances on the back of 

 the chrysalis parallel to the segmental divisions of the body and close to the upper 

 end (the one nearest the head) of the segment. One of the chrysalides examined 

 on the 7th June was found to contain the chrysalis of a fly. It was 0*23 inches 

 long and was transparent so that the fly could be seen inside. 



" The fly'was hatched during the night, and is sent in the tube with the larvae 

 and chrysalides. 



" Afterwards several other protective coverings were found to contain the same 

 flies. The flies emerge from their chrysalides before the larvae of the moth are 

 fully developed. The chrysalides of the flies are found attached to the upper end 

 of the protective covering, while the chrysalides of the moth are attached by a silk 

 thread to the lower end of the same covering. I could not discover that the flies 

 interfered with the development of the larva of the moth. This moth seems common 

 in the Jaunsar Forest Division, wherever the spruce fir is found, as signs of its pre- 

 sence were found at Deoban, Bodyar, Konain and Mandate. 



" It does not confine its attacks to small trees, but attacks large trees as well as 

 small poles and saplings, and together with the fungus Mcidium abietinum 

 (Barclay) does very serious damage to the spruce. 



" The fungus and moth are commonly found on the same tree, and at Bodyar 

 I found a young sapling growing in the open, and therefore favourably situated 



