fto. 3.] Cotton. 183 



2. Earias fabia ) Cramer, Pap. Ex., vol. iv, p. 126, pi. ccclv, 

 fig. H (1781). Sub-family Gonopterinss. Family Noctui dse. Sub-order 

 Phalaenas. Order Lepidoptera. 



On 2 1st September, 1893, the Assistant Director, Department 

 of Agriculture and Commerce, North-Western Provinces and Oudh, 

 forwarded some caterpillars which were said to be damaging a crop 

 of Egyptian cotton in the experimental farm at Cawnpore. He 

 noted that the insects attack the leaves of the cotton plant, which 

 curl up and get dry. He also says that the crop has not yet flowered 

 though the flowering season is approaching to a close. The matter 

 is referred to in " Indian Museum Notes," vol. iii, n. 5, p. 68 (1896) : 

 " The specimens proved insufficient for precise determination, but 

 are likely to have belonged to the group Noctues" 



On 4th December, 1893, the Director of Land Records and Agri- 

 culture, Punjab, Lahore, sent some pods [bolls] of Egyptian cotton, 

 containing green and white insects tunnelling into the pods. A single 

 moth was bred from these caterpillars, but was unidentified. It differs 

 only from Earias fabia in having the green stripe on the upper side 

 of the fore wing continued to the costa instead of being restricted 

 to the middle of the wings. Probably it is only a variety of that 

 species. 



In "Indian Museum Notes," vol. iv., n. 1, p. 36 (1896), mention 

 is made of "a green caterpillar, three-quarters of an inch long, 

 which twists up and destroys the leaf when pupating" of cotton 

 from Baroda in the Bombay Presidency. All these references pro- 

 bably relate to E. fabia. 



On 1st September, 1901, Mr. J. M. Hayman, Deputy Director of 

 Agriculture, North-Western Provinces and Oudh, forwarded some 

 caterpillars in spirit attacking cotton at the experimental station, 

 Cawnpore. He also sent some stems of the plant in spirit, they 

 being completely bored out leaving only the bark. On the 21st idem 

 he sent two moths, which proved to be E. fabia ; these were from 

 the first generation. He found the second generation of the cater- 

 pillars in the young flower buds of the cotton before opening, and 

 they eat the inside completely leaving only a shell. He noted that 

 the pupal stage was about ten days. 



Without knowing the complete life history of this new pest to 

 cotton it is difficult to suggest a remedy. It is probable, however, 

 that if the young plants were sprayed with a solution of Paris Green, 

 the young larvae would be killed before they bored into the young 

 stems and shoots of the cotton plants in the first generation, and 



