Abstract

Snake gourd (Trichosanthes anguina) is a creeper belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae, the fruits of which are used as vegetable in every household in South India. Apart from leaf caterpillars, fruit flies and other insect pests, a dark tiny weevil belonging to the genus Baris causes appreciable damage to the creeper, the grubs of which tunnel through the tender shoots and leaf petioles and cause withering of the same. Ramakrishana Ayyar (1932, 1940) has recorded this weevil (Plate II) at Tanjore. But in recent years it is noted in serious proportions in Coim- batore also. Ever since the record of the weevil the specific name has remained undetermined. Hence the author made attempts to identify the species from all the available literature and collections; but it was found different from all the species described in this genus so far. Therefore the weevil has been described by the author as new species and further the detailed studies on the biology and early stages of the insect were also studied by him. The detailed description of the adult and the details on the biology and early stages are presented in this paper.

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