July 1, 1899.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
7 
have lost its vigour. The buds often become hanjln 
and aa the ravages of the beetle advance the leaves 
droop, turn brown and finally the bush appears as if 
killed' and it may actually be so. The appearance in 
fact is very similar to that vpheu a wood-borer is at 
work (such as Zeuzem cnfecv), with this difference, 
that the whole bush appears to be suifering instead 
of one portion of it only, as is generally the case 
with borers. From what has already been said of 
this beetle, it will be understood there may be very 
little evidence of its ravages for months, while the 
grubs are steadily sapping the life of the plant and 
not one plant, for, as a rule, the beetle, if present, 
invades a considerable area, so that a whole plot of 
tea may be seen to be injured and clumps of bushes 
killed. When this occurs, the bushes if dug up will 
very often be found to have the roots invaded by fungi, 
and the inference is sometimes drawn, though incor- 
rectly, that the furgus is the cause of the destruction. 
When bushes are seen to die in the manner indicated, 
it would be a good plan to have a healthy bush, near to 
those killed, dug up and carefully examined. It may 
then be seen that the fungus is only saprophytic, 
that is to say, a species that attacks dead, not living, 
plants, and that the real cause of the death of the 
bushes is the white grubs that may then be found 
feeding on the li\ing roots. 
Remedy, — So far no cure has been discovered, 
except to dig up the grubs and kill them. But to 
check the multipli'-ation of the pest it is necessary to 
catch and destroy the beetles. For this purpose 
children, armed with insect-collecting nets, would be 
found most valuable, when incited through the offer 
of a reward for the number captured. The planter 
whose letter first drew attention to this pest, tells us 
that he offered a reward to his coolies, when hoeing 
the land, of one pice for every 30 grubs collected. 
In consequence the coolies dug more than 
their Any's task, so that the collection of the grub 
practically cost nothing. He informs us, however, 
that " to clear 15 acres cost in pice R108 — giving two 
lakhs of grubs which tilled two hogsheads. The eggs 
ftom which these grubs sprang must have been laid 
some two or three years before, and most likely they 
have quietly been doing great mischief. I am in the 
habit of buying the jungle — not all over the land, but 
in small holes, here and there, where convenient. 
This I found a great trap, for the grubs left the tea 
trees to attack this rotting vegetation and so were 
easily collected." The author of Notes on Tea in Bar- 
jeeling gives somewhat similar informatien, though he 
adds certain additional facts. The grub, he says, is 
" generally found in very rich soil, or where manure 
has been put down, or much jungle has been buried. 
This is fairly destructive to young cultivation and 
seed-beds, and eats off the roots of the young seedlings 
before they harden up, in some case killing off 
nearly every plant in young cultivation. Only remedy 
digging up. Plants attacked by Kumlas gener-illy 
die slowly, first getting yellow at top and gradually 
dying down. Never till in a vacancy thus caused 
without digging the insect up." Mr. Cotes tells us 
that in Ceylon, on coffee estates " where Melolon- 
thini larvaa at one time proved very troublesome, 
the only method of treatment that seemed to hsve 
been at all successful was digging out the grubs by 
-hand." Speaking of the efforts made to extirpate an 
allied insect from the vines in Europe, bisulphide 
of carbon is said to have been used with success. 
Miss B. A. Oriierod's Te\t-Booh of Agricultural 
Entomology, pp. 80, 89-93, will be found to give many 
useful hints regarding Cockchafers. Mr. Saundehs 
("Insects Injurious to J' ruits") gives some valuable 
particulars regarding a species of Lachnosterna said 
to be injurious to the cherry, plum, and other 
Buch trees. During the day the beetle remains in 
repose, but at night becomes active, and, if numerous, 
rapidly defoliates the trees. They are best collected 
by placing a sheet below the bushes, during day 
time and then shaking when the beetles fall into the 
cloth, and may be collected in large numbers. He 
then adds that where the beetles are found aban- 
dantly the grubs may be expected to remain" for 
some years to come since the larvse eat the roots 
during a protracted period of existence. The presence 
of this beetle even if it does not eat the tea leaves 
is a very dangerous prognostication of future injury, 
audit should, accordingly, be collected and destroyed 
as much as possible, 
2 (A) DIAPROMORPHA MELANOPUS, Lacord. 
The Okange Beetle, sometimes called Peal'sBeetle. 
References.— /our?!, ^f/n-7/oyi'i'. Soc. Ind., Vol.11, 
n. s. Proc, Nov. 17, 1869, page ix ; Vol. IV (n. s.) 
P.oc, 19th Sept. 1872, xl ; Feb. 27th, 1873. p. vu; 
April 34th, 1873, p. xxu ; Vol. V., Proc, 27th 
Aug. 1S74, p. xZvi. ; Vol. VI. Proc, 24th Julg 
1879, p. xxii; (Samples from Moran), identified 
bg F. Moore, Proc, £oth Sept. 1879. xxx; S. E. 
Peal, in Tea Cgclopa'dia, pp. 35-36 ; Notes on Tea 
in Daijeeling, 52 : Bamher, Chem. and Agri. Tea^ 
p. 242 ; Indian Mus Notes, Vol. I., 106 ; II., 154 ; 
Cotes, Ins. and Mites on Tea Plant, p. 7 ; The 
Planter, June 20th, 1896; Crole, Text-Book, 
p. 222. 
{Reg. No. 75, tithe Nos. 62 and 272.) 
History.— It would appear that Mr. E. L. 
Edgar, of Cossipore Tea ISstate, Cachar, was the 
tirst to draw attention to this beetle. He then wrote, 
that it had only appeared this year (1861) in any 
numbers. We next hear of it in 1872 from Moran in 
Sibsagar District, Assam. Both samples were sent 
through the Secretary, Agri-Horticultnral Society of 
India, to Mr. F. Moore, who identified them as being 
Bia promorpha melanopus. Mr. Peal sent samples of it 
to Mr. Wood Mason along with such notes and coloured 
drawings that Mr. Wood Mason undertook to write for 
the Agri-Horticultural Society an account of the 
insect, which promises, apparently, he never fulfilled, 
as I have failed to trace a paper by him. Mr. Peal 
himself, however, contributed some interesting par- 
ticulars in the form of an article on Tea Pests that 
will be found in the Tea Cyclopwdia. The subse- 
quent historic facts are soon told. It was reported 
from Darjeeling by many writers, and Mr. CoxEa 
says, '-The species is a common one in India." 
Description.— A small orange-ooloured beetle 
with the hard pitted wing-cases ; head slightly darker 
coloured than the body ; belly pale coloured. Size 
about sth inch in length. 
Depredations.— This very troublesome little 
beetle is one of those examples of an insect having left 
its own natural food and taken to the tea. Its life his- 
tory does not appear to have been traced out, but Mr. 
Cotes says, " From what is known of other species 
of the same family, it may be expected that the egga 
are laid upon the leaves, that the larvas are active 
little creatures which feed upon the foliage, eventu- 
ally transforming, in some sheltered corner, into 
statio.iary pupas from which the beetles ultimately 
emerge. These points, however," he adds, ''require 
corroboration.' ' 
Mr. W. J. Fleet sent me, from Salonah, Nowgong, 
samples of this beetle on the 27th June 1897, which 
he collected on the 17th April, but had observed the 
beetle subsequently up to date of his letter. The 
winged insect was collected by me at Nigiriting on 
the 1st of May, and in the Sibsagar District some 
weeks earlier. I had a large supply sent me from 
Sonada, Darjeeling, in June 1897. The first two 
letters announcing the discovery of this pest make no 
mention of the date of appearance of the beetle but 
these letters were published,— the one on the 17th 
November 1869, the other on the 19th September 
1872, 
It is curious that no writer makes mention definitely 
of the date of appearance and disappearance of this 
pest. The above facts have been mentioned to show all 
that is known on these point'-. It may, therefore, be pre- 
suTed that its period of depredation extends, say, from 
the beginning of April to abou', the end of August. One 
point there seems to be no doubt about. The insect 
does not lay its eggs on the tea, nor do the larvm feed 
