No. 4.] Notes on Insect pests from the Entomological Section. 190 



c, Micro-lepidopterous moth.-~—\n September 1897, specimens of 

 an insect destructive to paddy plant were received in the Indian 

 Museum from the Sub-Divisional Officer, Magura, w^ho wrote :— 



" These insects appeared in June and July last and damaged the plants of 

 Aus and Aman paddy in this sub-division, but disappeared as soon as heavy rains 

 set in. They have re-appeafed in certain tracts in this sub-division with the cessa- 

 tion of rains. 



" The insects are called by the cultivators, ' IVIodhupoka ' fronn a sort of gum 

 or juice attached to their bodies, )A;hich tastes sweet. 



" They made the leaves of the paddy plants first to be twisted and then to turn 

 gray, and look as if sun-burnt. The plants lose their green colour in a day or 

 two. They have damaged the plants where there is no water in the khet or even 

 where there are two to three yards water. I have not been able to see the stages 

 of their development." 



The specimens appeared to be the caterpillarsof a micro-lepidop- 

 terous moth, which cannot be identified without the examination of 

 the imago into which they transform. 



d. Grasshoppers attacking paddy crop,-— In October 1897, speci- 

 mens of Acridid3e were forwarded to the Museum by the Superin- 

 tendent, Government Museum, Madras, as the locusts which had 

 appeared in the Head-quarters Deputy Collector's Division of the 

 Ganjam district where they are reported to have attacked the paddy 

 crop. 



The specimens proved to belong to two distinct species of grass- 

 hoppers, namely, Hieroglyphus furcifer, Sauss., and Euprepocne- 

 mis bramina, Sauss. Both the insects have previously been referred 

 to in the pages of these Notes as occasioning damage to crops in 

 several parts of India. 



e, Noctues caterpillars destructive to rice crops.'— In December 

 1897, some caterpillars known locally as " Ledapok, " were forwarded 

 to the Museum, through the Director, Land Records and Agricul- 

 ture, Bengal, from the Collector of Chittagong, with the information 

 that they had been doing much damage to the rice crops in the 

 Satkania Thana. . 



