Abstract

Sorghum vulgare is one of the major millet crops of the Madras State grown for grain and for fodder. In Coimbatore where irrigation facilities are available it is grown as a summer erop under irrigation and as a rainfed crop in the N. E. monsoon season. The summer crop is subject to the attack of tlie earhead bug Calocoris angustatus D. which sucks up the sap from the newly formed grain and makes it chaffy. It has now become a regular practice to apply B. Н. С. 10% dust once a week at the time the carheads are exerted so as to control the bugs. However, other insects which had so far been occupying a subsidiary status, are becoming important now. Many species of Lepidopterous larvae have been found in the internal portions of the compact earheads feeding on the grains in the security of the spikelets which surround them. Attention has been drawn to some of these insects by former workers (Fletcher, 1921 & Ramakrishna Ayyar, 1940) but the exact nature of attack has not been clearly indicated. An account of the insects noted and their characteristic features are given here.

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