206 A. D. PEACOCK — ENTOMOLOGICAL PESTS 



The pupal period was found to vary somewhat, the times noted being 11, 14, 

 16, 18 and 23 days. Specimens reared from cocoa took longest to emerge. The 

 life-cycle takes more than five weeks. 



A superficial description of the moth is as follows : — The wing-expanse is 

 about 1 1 in. ; the wings are white ; the fore wings have a few black specks and a 

 characteristic thin line of orange along the anterior border. 



Rhopalocampta forestall, Cram. (Plate XXIV, fig. 3). 



The larvae have only been observed at Ibadan, where they feed voraciously 

 on cocoa leaves and have been found in a kitchen garden on kohl-rabi. 



The ground colour is slaty blue. The anterior of each segment, dorsally, has 

 a well marked transverse half-hoop of reddish brown and thinner parallel lines. 

 The head is yellow-brown, with eleven dark spots, eight of which are arranged 

 as a horse-shoe curve surrounding the other three. The pupal period lasts 

 10 days. 



In addition to the foregoing, certain other Lepidoptera were found in 

 connection with cocoa, but little is known as to their real economic significance, 

 so they are merely enumerated with brief notes. 



Nymphalidae : Precis pelarga, F. ; a caterpillar of this butterfly was found 

 in a cocoa bed at Ibadan. 



Lycaenidae : Lycaenesthes larydas, Cram. ; a pupa found in the cocoa 

 nursery at Ibadan. 



Argtiidae : Diacrisia curvilinea, Walk. ; caterpillars found on cocoa at 

 Agege and Azumini. 



Noctuidae : Plusia acuta, Walk. ; caterpillars were observed at Agege, and 

 at Calabar they were active from May to July. 



Lymantriidae : A swarm of larvae, attributed to this family, was found 

 feeding on the growing tips of cocoa about 12 months old at Agege, on 

 6th July 1912. 



GrEOMETRiDAE : Alcis divisaria, Walk. ; larvae were observed at Agege and 

 Ibadan feeding on cocoa leaves in July and later. 



Pyralidae : Phryganodes hesusalis, Walk. ; a pupa was found rolled in a 

 cocoa leaf at Ibadan. 



The Curator at Calabar reported that green caterpillars (presumably 

 Noctuidae) damaged every cocoa plant over 1^ acres; syringing with Paris 

 green kept them away for only 6 to 8 weeks. 



From 61 caterpillars collected in the cocoa nursery at Ibadan, 21 were found 

 to be Diacrisia maculosa, 7 Prodenia litura, 3 Diacrisia sp., 3 Alcis ?divisaria, 

 2 Plusia acuta, and 2,5 casuals. While this illustrates correctly that D. maculosa 

 is the worst caterpillar pest and that P. litura is a poor second, it is not true for 

 Diacrisia sp. or Plusia acuta, which are commoner than this one example shows. 

 The number of casuals is striking and their cumulative effect most important. 



At Calabar the commonest pest was Prodenia litura with Plusia acuta a good 

 second. Rhopalocampa forestall was found only on one tree, about three years 

 old, but the small swarm of one dozen was doing a great deal of harm. Whether 



