No. 3.] Original Communications. Qg 



maize, and thus continue to flourish in the neighbourhood ready to 

 re-attack the cane when next planted out. In this connection I ex- 

 tract the following from Indian Museum Notes 1 : — 



" A number of moths have been reared in Calcutta from affected sugarcane 

 that has been sent to the Indian Museum, and though they differ from each other» 

 a good deal both in size and colouration, they seem likely to prove to be merely 

 varieties of one species. Moths also have been reared in the Indian Museum 

 from caterpillars found in maize, and these seem also without doubt to be identical 

 with the moths reared from sugarcane. In the case of cholum, a number of infested 

 stalks were sent to the Museum, but the attempts that were made to rear the moth 

 were not successful, owing to the fact that almost all the caterpillars were found to 

 be suffering from the attack of a chalcid parasite 2 which proved fatal to all its 

 victims. As far as could be made out the caterpillar was the same as the one 

 found in sugarcane. It is interesting to notice, in this connection, that owing to 

 the fact that it is always much easier in Calcutta to procure sugarcane stalks 

 than either sorghum or maize stalks, sugarcane was used for rearing the borers 

 sent to the Museum as attacking both maize and sorghum. Borers taken out of 

 maize shoots were reared in sugarcane from the time they were comparatively 

 small caterpillars until they emerged as moths, and a sorghum borer (the only one 

 of a set received from Poona that escaped the chalcid parasite) was reared in 

 sugarcane from the time it was a half-grown caterpillar until it reached the 

 chrysalis stage, when it was accidentally injured and thus prevented from emerging 

 as a moth. The caterpillars taken both from maize and sorghum stalks seemed 

 none the worse for being fed upon sugarcane, and this appears of itself to be a 

 strong reason for supposing that the three insects are identical." 



The American D. saccharalis had been proved to feed on all these 

 plants, and with a view to determining whether the Indian and Ameri- 

 can species were identical, a moth reared from sugarcane in Calcutta 

 was sent to Washington for comparison with specimens reared in the 

 United States. As I have already mentioned, Dr. Riley was dis- 

 appointed in finding the insect to belong to a different genus. With 

 reference to the insect attacking all three crops he wrote — 



" I believe that you are perfectly right in assuming that the borers in sugarcane, 

 sorghum and maize are all the same, and it is interesting to know that at least 

 one other crambid agrees with D. saccharalis in this particular." 



The following forms additional proof on the subject : — 



During the year 1898 the sorghum borer was exceedingly abun- 

 dant in the Central Provinces, and species were repeatedly sent to 

 the Indian Museum through Dr. G. Watt, Reporter on Economic Pro- 

 ducts to the Government of India. Half grown caterpillars taken out 

 of juar stalks which had become dry and useless were reared in sugar- 

 cane ; they seemed none the worse for the change of the food plant, 



'Vol. Ill, No. 1, t>pi 51-52. 



'Since described by Mr. Peter Cameron as Cotesia flai)ipes t n. sp.> see Mem. Manchester 

 Lit. and Philos. Soc. 1S91. 



