Since Mr. F. W. Edwards' “Revised Keys to the known larvae of African Culicinae” appeared (Bull. Ent. Res. iii, pp. 373–385) the larvae of several additional species—all belonging to the tribe Culicini—have been found in the Gold Coast Colony. These larvae, collected at Accra and at Sunyani in Ashanti, are briefly described here and their position in Mr. Edwards' keys indicated so far as possible.

Kaduna, the future capital of Nigeria, is situated in the Northern Provinces, on the River Kaduna, at an elevation of roughly 2,200 feet. The present Kaduna is a small station (Kaduna Bridge) south of the river, but the capital now in the process of construction is some two or three miles to the north, near the small native town of Doka.

Being instructed to make an Entomological Survey of the district, with especial reference to Glossina and the resulting presence of trypanosomes in cattle, I left Lagos on 30th July 1914, reaching Kaduna Bridge on 1st August.

I remained in the proclaimed area till 6th August 1915, then returning to the vicinity of Monkey Bay for the purpose of endeavouring to establish artificial breeding places on a large scale.

While in the proclaimed area I took the opportunity of completing my survey of the distribution of Glossina morsitans, especially in the neighbourhood of Rifu and Kuti described by Dr. Shircore (Bull. Ent. Res., v, p. 87) as “primary centres 1 and 2,” which I had been unable to examine last season before the advent of the rains. As in the case of “ centres 3 and 4,” at Nyansato and Lingadzi respectively, I have not been able to find that the fly is sufficiently localised, even when the dry season is far advanced, as to render feasible any attempt to control it by prophylactic clearing of the bush. In the Rifu district there is a range of rocky hills and high ground running more or less parallel to the lake, with corresponding modification of the soil, so that a zone of scrub has sprung up, from half a mile to two miles in width, consisting very largely of thorn bush, among which are a few big trees. Towards the north this gradually dwindles, to be replaced by the borassus palms usually growing in the sandy ground along the Lake shore, and towards the south it gradually widens out and becomes continuous with the Kuti bush some five miles distant. Throughout its whole extent the fly was plentiful.

Pseudococcus bicaudatus, Keuchenius, Medel. v.h. Besoekisch Proefstation, Djemba, No. 16, 1915, p. 63 [see also Review of Applied Entomology, Nov. 1915, p. 647].

The author's detailed description of the supposed new species shows quite clearly that he is dealing with Pseudococcus virgatus, described by Cockerell in 1893. The species occurs commonly throughout the tropics of both hemispheres and has been described by different authors under several names, e.g. ceriferus (Newstead), talini (Green), and marchali (Vayssière).

Fiorinia morrisi, Brittin, Trans. N.Z. Inst., Wellington, xlvii, 1914 (issued July 1915), p. 149 [see also Rev. Appl. Entom., Dec. 1915, p. 74].

Through the courtesy of the author, I have had an opportunity of examining typical examples of this insect, and find that they agree with examples of F. asteliae (ex coll. W. M. Maskell). Fiorinia asteliae is now considered to be a synonym of F. gigas of Maskell, and both have been rightly relegated to the genus Leucaspis.

Further collections from Mr. G. F. Hill, gathered in the neighbourhood of Port Darwin, have produced several interesting new species which are described below.

Aspidiotus destructor, Sign.

On foliage of Pandanus odoratissimus, Darwin, N. T. (Hill, no. 636). These puparia have a rather more brownish tint than is usual in the species.

Aspidiotus fodiens, Mask.

On Melaleuca leucadendron, Koolpinyah, N.T. (Hill, 17, 18), and on Pithecolobium moniliferum, Stapleton, N.T. (Hill, 637). In the older examples from Melaleuca the pygidial lobes are worn and are not of such a regular outline as in the fresher material from Pithecolobium, but the two forms agree in all essential characters.

Aspidiotus orientalis, Newst.

On Ficus orbicularis (Hill, 23), and on “ Milkwood Tree ” (Hill, 24), Darwin, N.T. Also “ on undetermined introduced tree ” (Hill, 639).

Aspidiotus unilobis, Mask.

On Melaleuca leucadendron, Koolpinyah, N.T. (Hill, 18, 19). And on the same plant at Stapleton, N.T. (Hill, 638).

Aspidiotus (Aonidiella) miniatae, sp. nov.

Puparium of female small, circular, moderately convex ; dull ochreous white ; pellicles proportionately large, reddish or reddish-brown. Diameter 0·75 to 1 mm.

The following report deals with the investigation into the bionomics of Glossina morsitans being carried out in Northern Rhodesia on behalf of the British South Africa Company.

On my return from leave in July 1914 it was decided to form a base camp close to the railway line. Several areas in the neighbourhood of Broken Hill where fly was reported as being very thick were first examined, but were found from various causes to be unsuitable. A site was finally selected at the source of the Lukanga River, about four miles from the line and near Kashitu station, midway between Broken Hill and Ndola. Building was commenced in August and completed in October, just before the commencement of the rains.

Messrs. Eminson and Dollman, who had been working on the Kafue River at Mwengwa, had just reported the discovery of Mutilla glossinae, Turner, a wasp parasitic on the pupae of G. morsitans and of considerable importance, since the former worker found that about 10 per cent, of the 350 pupae he had collected were destroyed by this insect. This is the first insect parasite of any tsetse to be found in numbers, and it was decided to let the future investigations centralise round it. In order to discover whether it was localised or generally distributed, a tour was made through the fly areas of N.E. Rhodesia during the dry season of last year (1915) for the collection of pupae in various localities. About 4,000 were collected and examined. May and July were spent at Chutika (Hargreaves) in the Luangwa Valley, part of August at Nawalia in the Mpika section of the same valley, and September at Ngoa on the plateau near Mpika. Breeding was found to have commenced in the Luangwa Valley about the middle of April, and by the time the plateau was reached it was at its height. Before dealing with the parasites found, some general questions will be discussed.

It is a well-known fact that the eggs of Stegomyia fasciata are highly resistant to conditions adverse to their normal development.

In April 1915 I received through the Colonial Office a few dried leaves from West Africa, on which—secured by a fine mud deposit—were eggs of this mosquito that had been in a dried condition for at least three and a half months. These were found to be viable and were successfully hatched and reared for many successive generations, as described in a recent paper.

In a previous paper (Ann. Applied Biol. i, 1914, pp. 41–76) in which the author dealt with the life-history of Pegomyia hyoscyami, Panz., it was shown that the foodplants of this species belonged principally to the natural orders Chenopodiaceae and Solanaceae. Various weeds have also been cited in this connection, namely, certain kinds of thistle and the dandelion. Recently E. M. Vassiliev (see Rev. Appl. Ent. iii, Ser. A., 1915, p. 608) has added to the record the following:—Silene (catchfly), Datura stramonium (thorn-apple) and Onopordon acanthium (Scotch thistle). Thus, in addition to the two aforementioned, the orders Caryophyllaceae and Compositae are fairly well represented. As the original paper of the Russian author is not available, it cannot be definitely stated in how far his records are authentic. But as he advises the removal of these weeds from the vicinity of beet plantations, one would naturally infer that he has some reason for assuming that they may be attacked by the mangold fly and presumably provide an ever-present source of infestation to the cultivated crop.

Mutilla glossinae, Turn.

Mutilla glossinae, Turner, Bull. Entom. Res., v., 1915, p. 383, ♀.

♂. Niger, albo-pilosus ; pronoto, mesonoto, scutelloque rufo-ferrugineis ; calcaribus albidis ; segmentis dorsalibus 2–4 apice anguste albo-fimbriatis ; alis basi hyalinis, dimidio apicali modice infuscatis ; mandibulis apice tridentatis. Long. 6 mm.

♂. Head narrower than the thorax, broader than long, rounded at the posterior angles, closely and not very finely punctured, the antennal tubercles well developed. Clypeus concave, smooth and shining. Third joint of the flagellum equal to the fourth, half as long again as the second and more than twice as long as the first. Eyes ovate, converging towards the clypeus, not emarginate ; ocelli placed in a triangle, the posterior pair a little further from each other than from the anterior ocellus and situated on the inner edge of a large but shallow depression. Thorax broad and short, closely but not coarsely punctured ; anterior margin of the pronotum straight, the posterior margin broadly arcuate ; scutellum flat, broadly truncate at the apex ; pleurae very closely punctured and sparsely clothed with long white pubescence. Median segment very coarsely reticulate, shorter than the scutellum, posterior slope very steep, not distinctly separated from the dorsal surface. Abdomen subsessile ; closely punctured, with distinct but narrow apical bands of long white hairs on segments 2–4, a less clearly defined band on the first ; apical dorsal segment broadly rounded, more coarsely punctured, the punctures more or less confluent longitudinally. Second ventral segment closely punctured and sparsely clothed with long whitish hairs, which form a continuous band on the apical margin. First dorsal segment short and broad, slightly depressed on the apical margin ; second very broad, fully twice as broad as long, the sides convex. Fore-wing with three cubital cells, radial cell very broad, not more than twice as long as broad ; first abscissa of the radius equal to the third, shorter than the second, the two recurrent nervures received near the middle of the second and third cubital cells.