126 Indian Museum Notes. [Vol. V. 



and not to eat the leaves and shoots; also to inject some poisonous 

 liquid, it is probable that his observations are at fault, as beetles 

 being mandibulate insects invariably eat solid food and do not suck 

 up juices as do the haustellate groups. Also the injection of poison 

 is improbable. A young leaf or shoot when nibbled or eaten will often 

 wilt and die from that cause alone. The spraying of the affected 

 trees with Paris Green or London Purple would protect them from 

 the depredations of this beetle by killing off all those that ate the 

 poison. Clearing away surrounding jungle is also a good protection 

 to the fruit trees. 



This insect is the " Orange Beetle" of the tea planters, and is 

 found probably throughout Bengal, the Eastern Himalayas, Assam, 

 and has been recorded from Siam, but has not hitherto been known 

 to do damage to anything but the tea plant. It has been referred to 

 in all the previous volumes of " Indian Museum Notes/' and has been 

 figured in vol. iii, n. 4, page 7 (1896). 



On Carina carandus, Linnaeus. Natural Order Apocynacew. 



The ".Karunda." 



7. Nephele kespera, Fabricius. Family Sphingidae. Sub-order 

 Phalsenae. Order Lepidoptera. Plate X.fig. 3. 



The larvae of Nephele hespera, Fabricius, were found at the end 

 of the rainy season feeding on the leaves of the " Karunda " bushes 

 growing in the compound of the Indian Museum. The moth occurs 

 throughout India and Ceylon, and in Australia. It is very variable, 

 our bred specimens, of which we have eighteen, sometimes have these 

 silvery spots on the forewing, sometimes two or one, sometimes 

 none at all. The figure shows a moth bred from the " Karunda." 



On Phoenix sylvestris, Roxb. Natural Order JPahnew. The 



Date Palm. 



1. Padraona palmarum, Moore. Family Hesperiidae. Sub-order 

 Rhopalocera. Order Lepidoptera. Plate IX, Jig. 7, male ; 70, 

 female. 



The larva of the butterfly Padraona palmarum, Moore, was 

 found in Calcutta in December, 1900, feeding on the leaves of the 

 date palm. If the Padraona angiades of Felder be included under 

 this species, it has a very wide range, being found at Nagpur in 

 Central India, in Calcutta, Sikkim, Assam, Burma, the Nicobar Isles, 

 Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippine Isles, the Natuna Isles, in 



