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RHYNCHOTA. 
Oliv., is not a plains insect bnt is sufficiently striking to have been 
observed, and it is recorded that in Garhwal the white secretion is 
eaten and is, in Narsingpur, believed to have narcotic properties. 
P. viridula, Atk., is recorded from Poona. Plata ferrugata, Fabr., 
is a small “dead leaf coloured” insect not uncommon in Western 
India. The very common plains species with greenish-white tegmina 
belong to the genus Melicharia and apparently principally to M. 
lutescens, Wlk. Nothing appears to be known as to their life-history 
though they are common in cultivated areas. Ketumala bisecta, Kby., 
is found on grass. 
Delphacince. —A long robust mobile spur on the apex of the hind 
tibia. These small insects are so insufficiently known that our common 
Fig. 503— Liburnia psylloides. A. Imago. 
B. C. D. Nymphs. E. Eggs. F. Antenna. 
G. H. K. Legs. (I. M. N.) 
species appear to be largely unrecorded. They are small delicate insects 
with narrow wings as a rule, found abundantly in grass and on green 
plants. At least one species of Pundaluoya is common, while Purohita 
cervina has been found breeding on green shoots of bamboos in the 
plains. The eggs are laid in clusters of white mealy wax on the 
shoots and, in Behar, the insect hibernates in this stage. Liburnia 
(Delphax) psylloides, Leth., was described from Ceylon where it injures 
maize as it does also in India. It breeds sufficiently rapidly in young 
plants to become a pest, though not so serious on one as D. sacchari, 
West., of the West Indies which destroys sugarcane. There are probably 
a large number of this sub-family awaiting discovery in the plains and 
