No. 3.] Tea. 185 



noclues larvae pupate below the surface of the earth. Chemical 

 insecticides might be applied to the growing crops with excellent 

 effect where the damage done is great, but the cost of the materials 

 (the chemicals and the necessary apparatus for thorough spraying), 

 would probably be too costly for the cultivators. 



The caterpillars sent were received on February 6th, pupated on 

 the gth, and emerged between the 25th and 27th. The moth is 

 almost universally distributed, being found everywhere except in 

 South America. On the upper side of the front wings it is umber- 

 brown, with narrow black markings ; the hind wings are white with 

 dark veins and a suffused dark margin. The under side of all the 

 wings are practically unmarked, the front wings are dark silvery, the 

 hind wings pure silvery and very shining. The moth, under its 

 synonymic name Agrotis suffusa, Fabricius, is referred to in every 

 volume of "Indian Museum Notes," and in vol iii, n. 4, p. 25, the 

 larva and imago is figured. 



X.— INSECT PESTS OF TEA. 



On Camellia theifera Griff., Natural order Temstrcemiaceai, 



The tea plant. 



1. Diapromorpha melanopus, Lacord. Family Chrysomelidae. 

 Order Coleoptera. The Orange Beetle. 



In June, 1900, the Manager of the Baraoora (Sylhet) Tea Co., 



Ltd., forwarded some specimens of the " Orange Beetle, " Diapro- 



morpha melanopus, Lacord, which was " Doing considerable damage 



to the young shoots of our tea bushes/' Writing at a later date in 



the same month he stated that " As many as from 25,000 to 30,000 



Orange Beetles have been daily destroyed. " This pest" he notes 



" does not appear to have shown itself to any noticeable extent before 



in South Sylhet, and it would be interesting to learn, if possible, why 



it should have appeared in myriads this year." It is figured in 



"Indian Museum Notes," vol. iii, n. 4, p. 7 (1896). 



2. Biston suppressaria, Guenee. Family Geometridse. Suborder 



Phalaense. Order Lepidoptera, Plate xiii ; Figs. 10 b, pupa 



ventral view ; 10 c, pupa lateral view ; 10, imago male ; 10 a 



larva, lateral view. 



On 3?st January, 1901, Mr. K. D. Murray, Manager of the Lanka- 

 para Tea Co., Ltd., Duars, fcrwarded a large number of pupae of a 



