2 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. VII. 
PART L 
PREVIOUS HISTORY OF THE PEST. 
The earliest mention of this insect, that is traceable, is an enquiry 
by J. S. G. [amble] in the first volume of the Indian Forester in 1876. 
It is stated that the insect, “ almost yearly, attacks the young shoots 
of the Toon tree, boring its way along the pith which it seems to live 
upon, and leaving behind it an unsightly looking mass of transparent 
gummy exudation. It attacks trees both in plantations and in the 
forests, and prefers these about three feet in height and of strong growth. 
It seems to attack, however, more particularly those trees which grow 
in cleared land or near roads, while others growing close by in grass 
or with other trees, have been comparatively unharmed.” 
In February, 1882, a correspondent in the Tropical Agriculturist 
records the attacks of a borer in the terminal shoots of young toon 
planted out in tea estates in Ceylon. 
In the same journal in September, 1882, it is reported that young 
trees of Cedrela Toona are attacked by a borer in a similar manner in 
Queensland. 
The Museum of the Forest School, Dehra Dun, before its transfer 
to the Forest Research Institute contained specimens of this species 
which were bred in June, 1886, from the fruits of toon. 
The species was described by Moore in 1886 [ Moore, 1886, p. 365 ]* 
from specimens collected in Ceylon. 
The Tropical Agriculturist for September, 1888, records attacks 
by a shoot borer of toon and mahogany in Ceylon. The general opinion 
at this date with regard to the insect is represented by the following 
statements : “ The little borer which occasionally attacks the toon 
is not a very serious pest and scarcely affords sufficient reason for cutting 
down the trees. The repeated destruction of the terminal 
twigs causes the continuous production of lateral ones on the branchlets 
below, so that the character of the tree becomes at last quite altered, 
and a dense, round, much-branched head results, instead of the usual 
wide-spreading foliage.” 
In January, 1889, specimens of the pest were sent from Ceylon by 
Mr. E. E. Green to the Indian Museum and the first authentic identi¬ 
fication of the insect as a pest of toon was published as Magiria robusta, 
Moore, in the Indian Museum Notes, Vol. I, together with figures of the 
larva, pupa and moth, [Cotes, 1889]*. Additional records were given 
of its occurrence as a borer of young mahogany (Swietenia Mahagoni) 
' For all references to literature in square brackets see Bibliography at the end. 
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