140 Indian Museum Notes, [Vol. V. 



On examining the specimens sent I found them to be larvse (nu- 

 merous) and two pupae of Chilo simplex^ Butler, the most notorious 

 of the Indian lepidopterous sugarcane borers. In a single shoot of 

 maize I found as many as seven caterpillars, all nearly full-grown, four 

 and three in a shoot were quite common. The shoots were riddled 

 from end to end, the growing point was dead, and the interior of the 

 shoots rotten, ill-smelling, and infested with maggots of flies (Order 

 Dipt era). 



In " Indian Museum Notes/' vol. ii, n. 1, pp. 2, 3 (1891), the 

 larva of a moth which was almost certainly Chilo simplex was re- 

 ported to have been sent to the Museum from Amritsar, where it had 

 done much damage to the millet and maize crops. These insects 

 emerged as moths on 31st March and the 4th and 5th ]une following, 

 taking at least nine months to undergo one generation. It is highly 

 improbable that this is the normal time the insect takes to complete 

 its metamorphosis ; under favourable conditions as to weather, abun- 

 dance of food and temperature, a few weeks will be found to suffice 

 for its life-cycle from egg to moth. Other references to this insect dam- 

 aging maize will be found in " Indian Museum Notes," vol, iii, n. 1, 

 pp. 51,52 (1896). 



Chilo simplex so far does not appear to be a bad pest in the 

 sugarcane at Seeraha ; it occurs far less frequently there than the 

 other two borers. But if the insect thrives and multiplies greatly in 

 the maize which is grown throughout the district during the rainy- 

 season, it will certainly spread to the sugarcane if the two crops are 

 grown near to one another. It would be of little use trying to exter- 

 minate it in the sugarcane ard allow it to remain rampant in the maize. 

 As it is difficult in India to induce the cultivators to systematically 

 resort to remedies which involve much cost or labour, it would appear 

 advisable as far as possible to prevent the growth of maize close to 

 sugarcane, the latter being by far the more valuable crop. The per- 

 fect moth is sluggish, and would probably not travel far, so if the 

 two crops were well separated, the borer though present in the maize 

 would probably not spread greatly to the sugarcane. 



As regards the damage done to the maize itself, searching for and 

 destroying the eggs on the young plants would be an excellent 

 remedy early in the season. Once the larvae have emerged from the 

 egg there would appear to be nothing to be done, but to cut out and 

 destroy all shoots bored by the insect. The presence of "dead 

 hearts" in the maize plants which have been bored into for any 

 length of time will declare at once the presence of borers. 



I spent the month of August at Seeraha in Chumparan, and found 

 Chilo simplex at all stages in the maize, and bred many moths from 



