No. 1.] 



//. H. Mann— On Helopeltis theiovora. 



u 



These figures, taken with those I have previously published 

 [loc. tit,) for ever set at rest the question of the hibernation of the 

 Helopeltis in the Indian Tea Districts. They are breeding through- 

 out the year, though this breeding descends to a minimum in Octo- 

 ber and November in some districts, and later in others. That this 

 breeding is continuous is still more clearly shown by the following 

 table, calculated from the figures given above: — 





December, 



January. 



February. 



March. 



April. 



Adult males . 

 Adult females . 

 Larvae . . . 



Per cent. 

 ii 



21 



68 



Per cent. 



4 



5 



9i 



Per cent. 



4 



3 



93 



Per cent. 



3i 



6 

 9o| 



Per cent. 



2 



7 

 9i 



Total 



IOO 



IOO 



IOO 



IOO 



IOO 



Mr. G. C. Dudgeon has recently informed me that he has found 

 the adult insects, like many other bugs, in a very inactive condition 

 in the lower part of the tea bush during the so-called hibernating 

 months at Ging, Darjeeling (5,000 ft.). They do not, however, become 

 in the least inactive in the plains districts, as I have found myself in 

 the Darjeeling Terai. Moreover, I am informed from Cachar that 

 the insects are much more difficult to catch at this period, owing to 

 their great activity: 



The reduction in numbers during these months and the fact that 

 this is also the time of pruning the tea bushes in India, has led me to 

 a method which bids fair, from experiments so far conducted, to give 

 reasonable prospect of being able to deal with this serious pest. 

 It is well known that capsid bugs are with difficultly reached by any 

 spray that we know, — and in any case, spraying during the season of 

 great activity of this insect (the rainy season), would be impossible 

 because (1) when one may have five inches of heavy rain, and more,, 

 any day, there is no spray known which will stay on the bushes, (2) 

 the leaf being the crop desired, which is plucked every week, it 

 would mean stopping the plucking and manufacture of tea for some 

 time to the utter ruin of the remainder of that year's crop. Thus 

 spraying at the season of activity was ruled out of court in the early 

 part of the investigation. 



It was further found that the suggestion to severely pluck the bush, 

 so as to takeoff the eggs laid in the young shoots with the leaf 



