32 Indian Museum Notes. [Vol. IV, 



EXTRACTS FROM REPORTS. 



[Note. — The following extracts are taken from letters and reports which have 

 been forwarded to the Indian Museum since the publication of the Conspectus o^ 

 insects affecting crops in India. — Ed.'\ 



The following is taken from a report, dated loth August 1894, by 

 Mr. ]. H. Middleton, Professor of Agricul- 

 ture, Baroda College, forwarded by the Sur- 

 vey Commissioner and Director of Land Records and Agriculture, 

 Bombay :-^ 



" Hymenoptera, Saiafly. — The larva of a sawfly attacks cabbage and most of 

 the other plarts of this family. Specimens were sent to the Museum, but without 

 the imago they could not be named. I have attempted several times to rear the 

 insect, but the grubs are very delicate and I have not yet succeeded. 



" The larva is greenish black and about |" long when full grown ; it eats 

 round the edges of the leaf and rapidly destroys seedlings. 



" This pest appears in September and passing through successive generations 

 lasts for six months or more. It is especially bad in cloudy weather. 



" Remedies. — When the larvse attack a seed-bed, ashes may be sprinkled on the 

 seedlings ; but unless the grubs are constantly picked off by hand, ashes will not 

 save the young plants. Kerosine emulsion has been tried, but with little success in 

 the case of seedling cabbages, as these plants are so easily destroyed. For half- 

 grown turnips the emulsion proved to be a protection in one or two instances where 

 it was tried." 



This insect is referred to in Volume III, No. 5, page 69, of these 

 Notes, 



" Aloa lactinea. — The caterpillar of this moth known as kaira to the natives 

 is the most destructive insect pest on sandy soils round Baroda. The moth is a 

 pretty white insect, which appears soon after the first ourst of the monsoon. It 

 may be seen fluttering about in the twilight, and attracted by the light it comes 

 indoors after nightfall, 



" The outer wings are white with one margin red, have a stretch of i|", and a few 

 black dots scattered over them, one marked dot being near the insertion of the 

 wing. The inner wings have a spread of about an inch and are white without a 

 red m'argin, but the dots are larger and more pronounced than on the outer wings. 

 The body is about f" long and the back is striped alternately black and red. In 

 captivity I have found that the moth may lay over 300 eggs. 



" The eggs seem to be laid in the hedges, for the katras invade a field from its 

 borders, but they may sometimes be laid on weeds, etc., in a field, for I have seen 

 very tiny larvae in the soil at a considerable distance from a hedge. They take 

 about a fortnight to hatch, and three weeks after rainfall the katras may be 

 expected. 



" The young larvae are grey in colour, and for a week are not much in evidence; 

 they seem to live about the hedges and field borders until the regiment is brought 



