No. 1.] Miscellaneous Notes. 33 



up to strength ; they then march out in line, clearing off everything they consider 

 edible. If the field happens to contain a crop they appreciate, they do their work 

 systematically, the ranks remain unbroken and there are very few stragglers ," if, on 

 the other hand, the crops they like are scarce, they break up and scatter all over the 

 field in search of them. When first the larvae begin to do damage they are about 

 f" long, reddish-brown in colour, and very active. In three weeks' time they grow 

 into sluggish dark-brown (sometimes nearly black on the back) caterpillars \\" 

 long, |-'' in diameter. They then disappear into the hedges in which they pupate. 



" The pupa is ovate dark-brown, rather more than f" long and less than \" in 

 diameter in the middle. The length of time before the moth emerges varies; in 

 one case the insects appeared in two months Jn another after ten months. The 

 latter must be the usual time, for I have not seen either moths or larvee in the 

 cold weather, 



" The great majority of the larvEe I have kept in captivity have died either just 

 before or just after the pupa formed, and this heavy mortality seems to be due to 

 a parasitic fly of which I reared several specimens (these have already been sent to 

 the Museum). I was in hopes that this parasite was getting the better of the kaira, 

 for neither last year nor the year before was the attack so bad as it was three 

 years ago. This year, however, katras have been worse than I have ever seen 

 them. The present monsoon has been exceptionally wet, and that of three years 

 ago was exceptionally dry, so that season does not seem much to affect the cater- 

 pillars; probably, however, the severity of the attack depends to a great extent on 

 the character of the previous season, 



"The katra defoliates a great many plants, both wild or cultivated; of the 

 latter the following may be mentioned. 



" Gossypium herbacevm (one variety of cotton, a perennial known as Roji 

 related to G. arboreum, the katra does not damage seriously; the annual varieties 

 it entirely destroys), Cfotalaria juncea, Phaseolns aconitif alius, Dolichos lablab' 

 Cucumio sativa (and several other Cucurbitacea;), Nicotiana tabacum (seedlings), 

 Capsicum fructeocens (seedings), Solanutn melongena (seedlings), Rtcinus com- 

 munis, Orysa sativa and Pennisetum typhoideum (when very young only), Zea 

 mays. 



"These caterpillars were first seen near Baroda some dozen years ago and are 

 said to have come from the country lying to the north-east. Until within the last 

 twelve or fifteen years they were unknown to Gujarat cultivators. On the black soil 

 immediately south of Baroda katras are known, but do little or no damage. This 

 is not on account of lack of suitable food, for the whole country is covered with 

 annual cotton, which the caterpillars eat, but it seems to be due to the absence of 

 the hedgerows, which the moths frequent. 



" Remedies. — Seed-beds may be protected by putting a quantity of the leaves 

 of Euphorbia neriifolia round the borders. These leaves the katras eat and die, 

 and if the seed-beds are carefully watched and intruders picked off, seedlings will 

 escape with little damage. 



" In the case of field-crops, where the foregoing remedy is impracticable, a 

 number of katras may be killed under favourable circumstances (dry weather and 

 a smooth field with a young crop) by rolling. 



" Mynas destroy great numbers of the caterpillars, and, as already noted, para- 

 sites kill many, but when once they establish themselves in a field the crop in most 

 cases is doomed. Prevention rather than remedy is required, and the evil might? 



