No. 1.] Miscellaneous Notes. 3 1 



were said to be most destructive to vegetable and flower gardens in 

 the Caber hills. Mr. H. O. Neill writes:— 



" One specimen you will find in the bottle to be like pieces of thread, and it 

 was with the greatest difficulty that they could be picked out of the earth. They 

 crawl out of the ground at night and devour all the tender shoots and blossoms 

 of flower and vegetable plants. They are also most destructive to potato crops. 

 I have observed thera attack wheat and garlic as well. This year they have de- 

 stroyed fields of wheat and garlic on the upper Caber hills." 



The insects consisted of numerous little millepedes of the Julid 

 family, which, however, proved to be new to the Museum collection. 



The millepedes are well known to live on decaying vegetable 

 matter, and occasionally on decaying animal matter, but, so far as is 

 known, they have never before been reported to be pests to 

 agriculture in India. Indeed, the little that is known of them in 

 relation to agriculture and forestry is favourable, as they are said to 

 occasionally feed on slugs and snails. In consideration of these facts 

 further particulars on this interesting subject are desirable. Speci- 

 mens have been forwarded to Mr. R. I. Pocock for identification. 



* The fiarure which is given in plate III, figure 4, represents the 

 millepede four times enlarged. 



The following are extracts which have been forwarded to the 

 Indian Museum by the Government of India, 

 ^ "^ ■ Department of Revenue and Agriculture, re- 



garding the destruction of locusts in 1893-94: — 



Extract from the Rajputana Political Agency Diary for the week ending on the 



1st September 1804. 



" Forty-one maunds and thirty-two seers of young locusts were destroyed in 

 the Suratgurh and four hundred maunds in the iVIirzawala tahsils from the 29th 

 July to the 4th August 1894, Some young locusts were destroyed in the villages 

 of Sardar Shahr, Bahaderan, Rajgurh, Hanumangurh, Ralangurh and Nuhar 

 tahsils." 



Extract from the report on the Land Revenue Administration of the Punjab 



for i8g2'g2. 



" Locusts were also observed in Isa Khel and Marwat. Occasional swarms 

 passing from one direction to another were first seen and at last eggs were laid in 

 May and June. Fortunately the rabi crops had then been cut and the fields had 

 not yet been ploughed for either the extra rabi or the kharif, otherwise some 

 damage to crops would have been inevitable. The zamindars had a very bitter 

 experience in 1890-91, and at once responded to the call of the tahsil officials for 

 help. The locust destruction scheme established in the past year was put into 

 operation and the mischievous insects with their eggs were promptly destroyed 

 without causing the least damage to cultivation." 



i) 



