No. 1.] Miscellaneous Notes. 35 



except in young cane shoots, I think it more likely that the eggs of the moths hatch 

 when the cane germinates, and that the larvse attack the young shoots, but are so 

 few as to pass unnoticed. Many young cane shoots die from the attacks of white 

 ants, and after planting, the ravages of these insects are so severe that a few borers 

 would pass unnoticed unless carefully looked for. If these were found and de- 

 stroyed in the end of May, there would be little fear of damage in July and August. 



" Whenever the borer appears, early or late in the season, the affected shoots 

 should be cut out as near as possible to the parent plant and burned. 



" It might be practicable to prevent the attacks of both the borer and of white 

 ants by dressing the cane sets with some insecticide before planting. The difficulty 

 would be getting an insecticide strong enough to kill and keep off insects, but 

 which would not injure the delicate roots and shoots of the young cane. Weak 

 kerosine emulsion or some preparation of carbolic acid would perhaps be the most 

 suitable insecticides to use. If the larvse exist in the sets, the method mentioned 

 by Miss Ormerod of steeping the sets for 48 hours in water might be tried. 



" From the pupa of a borer I have reared a parasite, a brightly coloured insect 

 like a minute wasp. 



" I have not seen Diatrcea saccharalis attack Sorghum or Maize. 



" Leucinodes orbonalis. — A specimen of this insect was sent by me to the 

 Museum. 



•* L. orbonalis is a small white moth, with red spots on the wings. The spread 

 of the wings is about an inch, the length of the body less than half an inch. 



" The larva is pinkish yellow and when full grown half an inch long. It bores 

 in the stems and branches of the brinjal in the month of August. It has once been 

 seen on the College Farm, but the affected shoots were at once cut off the brmjal 

 plants and destroyed, and the borer did not do much damage. The pupa stage 

 lasts eleven days." 



This insect is referred to in Volume III, No. 5, page 64, of these 

 Noies. 



" i/omo/)#ey<z.~ Specimens of a scale insect attacking sugarcane were sent by 

 me to the Museum last September. 



" This scale is a most destructive parasite in Gujarat ; it may destroy half the 

 crop and injure the quality of the remainder. It is l^rxo-wn as Masi or Mashi hy 

 cultivators, and appears to belong to the genus Aspidiotus. 



"The green young insects are seen on the cane in August, and in the same 

 month scales appear, and in bad cases cover the back of the leaf until the crop is 

 harvested in March. The pest is said to be worst in wet seasons, but last year it 

 was very bad in some places, and the rainfall was not heavy. It is said also that 

 it does not come through sets and that sets from an affected field of cane may 

 safely be planted. Cultivators attribute the attack to the weather and some to 

 heavy manuring with castor cake (a forcing nitrogenous manure). Most culti- 

 vators advocate the free use of manure to stimulate growth. 



"The insects come in such myriads that it is difificult to think of any remedy. 

 In the earliest stages spraying with ' Resin wash ' might be effected, but even if 

 the cultivator had a spraying apparatus large enough to deal with a crop of cane 

 it is doubtful whether the remedy would be practicable. 



