14 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. VII. 
the time when the fruits are set and the capsules already well advanced 
and the entire larval development is passed in the growing fruits ; late 
individuals may be found up till the beginning of June. The life-cycle 
from egg to moth is completed in 3 to 4 weeks, and the whole genera¬ 
tion extends over a period of 9 to 10 weeks. 
The larvae of the third generation feed entirely on the new shoots? 
which are put out during the hot weather. Third-brood larvae occur 
from early in May until the middle of July. The change in the food- 
material is accompanied by a relative lengthening of the life-cycle, which 
from egg to moth occupies 9 to 11 weeks, with fourth brood larvae pre¬ 
valent from the end of July until the second week in September. 
The fifth or ovenvintering generation is the longest and the larva 
passes most of its time in a hibernaculum inside the shoot. The first 
individuals of this generation appear early in October, when the autumn 
flush of new shoots occurs, and the majority have bored into shoots 
before the winter leaf-shedding commences. The development of the 
insect in its earlier stages is normal, and is followed by a hibernating 
period of 14 to 16 weeks. The life-cycle from egg to moth is complete 
in 21 to 24 weeks and the whole generation occupies a period of 28 to 
31 weeks. 
Larval activities, and mode of feeding. 
1. The flower and fruit generations. 
First generation. 
The larvae of the first generation, hatching from eggs laid on the 
flowering shoots of the toon, feed gregariously on all parts of the pani¬ 
culate inflorescence. While feeding, the larvae bind together individual 
flowers or adjacent groups of flowers by means of a loose network of 
silk threads, in which portions of the flowers petals, ovaries, pedicels, etc., 
together with fragments of larval excreta become entangled [Plate IV, 
fig- 9]- A panicle in which a colony of larvae is feeding, therefore, presents 
a characteristic appearance, and should the whole inflorescence be 
covered with a silk-web, it remains as a ragged mass of shrivelled floral 
fragments for some time after the dispersal of the larvae. Although the 
network of silk threads provides ample protection to the growing cater¬ 
pillars, yet each individual before moulting prepares a cell of more 
densely woven silk in which to shed its skin. An abandoned panicle 
contains numerous moult-cells varying in dimensions with the size of 
the larvae that constructed them. 
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