Page:Life-histories of Indian insects - Microlepidoptera - T. Bainbrigge Fletcher.djvu/119

 36 LtFE-HtSTORtES OF tORTRICID^ " There are two periods of the year at which the caterpillars are most conspicuous, viz., March to May and August to September. They attack the topmost leaves of a [tea] shoot and the damage done in the early part of the season, though seldom serious, is greater than that done later in the season, for the following reason. The pest prefers succulent growth, and on this account will attack indigenous varieties of tea, on which the young leaves are soft and juicy, in preference to China or hybrid varieties, in which the young leaves tend to be m.ore dry. Similarly, the new growth on cut-back tea is more succulent than that on tea which has been top-pruned, and hence bushes pruned in the former nmnner are more liable to attack than top-pruned bushes. Should a cut-back bush be backward in its growth in March it is very liable to receive a very severe check if attacked by this pest, m.ore es- pecially so, as the rule at this time of year is to pluck such tea to a measure, leaving all bushes untouched which have not yet grown up to that measure. Should a shoot be attacked after reaching that measure, the damage done is negligible, as the pest and the attacked leaves are removed by the pluckers, and the main object, which was to allow the new shoots to attain a certain growth, has been achieved. In August and September, however, such condi- tions do not obtain. The main object then (for August and September are the two months during which growth is most rapid as a rule) is to get the leaf off. The caterpillars are removed by the pluckers almost as soon as the}' become established and only a sii all proportion attain maturity, " Thus ordinary garden operations as a rule exercise a sufficient check on the pest and, in cases where backward cut-back tea is affected in the early part of the season, it is now mxade a practice of plucking the affected tops off the shoots even if they have not attained the growth desired. The highest axillary bud then develops, and the shoot is afterwards left until it attains the desired measure. " Specimens of the different pests of tea are continually being collected in the field and reared in this laboratory in the hope of finding parasites, but so far no parasites have been found to attack Homona cqffearia." (E. A. Andrews, in litL, 17th January 1917.) Homona coffearia was recorded (^) as a t;ea-pest in the tea districts of Southern India on the authority of Mr. R. D. Anstead, and I have no first- hand Ittiowledge of its occurrence on tea in Southern India at all. Pjobably it does occur, together with Laspeyresia leucostoma and perhaps other species. Specimens of Homona coffearia, taken at Pollibetta in South Coorg by n^yself, had probably bred upon coffee, as there was no tea near by. It has