So far as could be determined from laboratory experiments the sequence of events relating to blood feeding and the laying of eggs in the life of Stegomyia fasciata was found to be as follows:—

On the second or third day after emergence from the pupa the mosquito takes her initial feed of blood. If she has previously been fertilised she lays her first batch of eggs on the sixth or seventh day, and is ready to feed again on blood a few hours later. Thereafter she lays eggs regularly every third or fourth day, and feeds on blood once only after each batch is laid in preparation for the next batch. The female continues to lay batches of eggs throughout her life, and in this way at least fifteen may be deposited. In order that eggs may be laid at all, both fertilisation and a meal of blood are required, and it is necessary that the fertilisation should precede the blood feed. Once fertilised, the female may continue to lay batches of fertile eggs for at any rate 37 days without being reimpregnated. If the eggs are laid in the early morning, she feeds during the day-time; if in the afternoon or evening, she feeds at night; but sometimes she refuses an offer to feed in daylight in favour of the next opportunity to feed in the dark.

The subject of ticks and the diseases they convey is one of great practical importance to agriculturists and pathologists in such a country as the Congo. Of the species recorded from the Congo, one conveys relapsing fever to man and eight have been shown to convey diseases to domesticated animals in various parts of Africa.

The rather numerous Ethiopian species of Dacus (s.l.) are very homogeneousowing to their reduced chaetotaxy and the very simple pattern of the wings; they have no praescutellar bristles, only a scutellar pair, and very often only twosupra-alar bristles, the anterior one being wanting. There are no species with astalked abdomen, or with spinose femora, or with elongated antennae, or withbanded wings.

In employing the most up-to-date methods in the prosecution of his business, the American farmer endeavours to get the best return for his labours. The adoption of the latest prophylactic measures for combating the fungus and insect enemies of his crops, is but a single instance of that progressiveness which is characteristic of the man.

The State Agricultural Experiment Stations encourage the farmer in many ways and are of genuine practical value in dealing with local problems. The establishment of similar institutions in this country would be quite justifiable.

The experiments with various fungicides and insecticides were carried out in the State of New Jersey. They were intended to demonstrate how a larger yield of potato tubers per acre might be procured by the employment of scientific methods of spraying and dusting.

The principal fungus diseases attacking the potato are early blight (Macrosporium solani), late blight (Phytophthora infestans), and dry rot (Fusarium oxysporum). Late blight, which levies a heavy toll on the potato crop in America, is injurious in New Jersey only in exceptionally wet seasons. A pathological condition of the leaves known as “ tip-burn ” is in some years responsible for a reduced yield.

Of the various treatments applied, Bordeaux mixture vindicated itself in each case. It is not only a most excellent fungicide, but also an effective insecticide when arsenate of lead is added. Both the Colorado and flea-beetles were better controlled by the Bordeaux-lead arsenate mixture than by any of the other insecticides used in the field experiments.

Bordeaux mixture acts as a plant stimulant by maintaining the green colour of the leaves for a longer period. This naturally means larger tubers.

Thoroughness of application of the Bordeaux mixture and frequent repetition of the treatment, at least once every ten days, are necessary for effectiveness. Care in its preparation is strongly advised. Sufficient lime must be used to ensure that all the copper sulphate is changed to the hydrate form, otherwise burning of the leaves may ensue.

The use of Bordeaux mixture may increase the value of the yield of tubers anything from £3-£5 per acre. The increase, however, varies considerably in different localities and in different years.

Sulphur did not quite realise expectations as a crop stimulant. Various proprietary Bordeaux mixtures proved less economical and less efficient than the home-made article.

The cost of spraying or dusting varies according to the locality, but of all the treatments applied, home-made Bordeaux mixture always proved cheapest.

Concurrent experiments carried out in the laboratory and field with many insecticides additional to those used in the large field tests, were the means of discovery of an insecticide which seemed to fulfil all requirements in controlling the flea-beetle. It is composed of a combination of pyrethrum infusion, gelatin or soap, and lead arsenate. Extended trial will, however, have to be made to establish its efficacy.

The fenestration of the leaves by the flea-beetle, besides materially reducing the assimilating surface of the leaves, also renders the injured tissue more susceptible to the attack of various cryptogamic diseases. This is notoriously true of early blight.

Counts made of the fenestrations of the leaves on a large number of shoots, gave an idea of the intensity of the damage caused by the flea-beetle at any one period. A comparison of the counts made on plants treated with different substances, supplied a rough estimate of their value in controlling the pest.

For a true interpretation of the results of the field experiments various factors must be considered, amongst which not least are the physical and chemical conditions of the soil, previous cultivation and the vagaries of the weather.

A Braconid parasite (Perilitus epitricis) of the flea-beetle was reared from adult captured specimens. Its behaviour in relation to its host was closely observed in the field, especially the manner of its oviposition. No figures were obtained of the percentage of parasitism, but it is considered that the Hymenopteron is practically a negligible factor of control.

It cannot be said that any satisfactory division of the Tetrastichini has yet been proposed. With the exception of one or two easily recognised groups like Melittobia, Westw., Crataepus, Först., and Hyperteles. Först., the genera are ill-defined, and this is specially the case with Tetrastichus, Hal., and its immediate allies. It has become evident that the mesonotal furrows or impressed lines have not the value for diagnosis that many writers have assigned to them. Recently Kurdjumov (Revue Russe d'Entomologie, xiii, p. 246, 1913) has separated Tetrastichus from Geniocerus, Ratz., by the chaetotaxy of the submarginal, assigning to the former genus those species which have one, and to the latter, species with more than one bristle in this position. Such a division, I believe to be unnatural, as it is certainly inconvenient.* In the following descriptions I have included one species in Tetrastichus though it has more than one bristle on the submarginal. I think it impossible, in the present state of our knowledge of the Tetrastichines, to say what characters are of basal importance. For grouping species, the funicle (shape, segments and chaetotaxy), the position of the scrobes, the shape of the pronotum (especially whether straight-edged or emarginate posteriorly), the chaetotaxy of the mesonotum and the propodeon, give generally the most reliable clues, while specific characters appear to lie in colour, proportions and chaetotaxy of the wings. How far the ring joint can or should be used is doubtful. When consisting of a number of equal rings it may be of some assistance, but in other cases, the basal ring is much the greatest, and it is almost impossible to say whether the succeeding lamina is distinct or not. Even with an oil immersion difficulty may be felt, and there is the further question of the morphological equivalence of these laminae. In the present paper four species assigned to Tetrastichus are described; of these, three are grouped together, mainly on account of antennal and propodeal characters, the fourth I have placed with some others described from dipterous hosts, but if the absence of whorls of hair from the male funicle proves to be more fundamental than the antennal coloration and the propodeal sculpture, possibly all four should go together. In describing the antennae, details are given of the sensoria, which, though rather variable in number on any individual joint, are more constant for the funicle and club as a whole.

The following notes and descriptions of African plant-lice are based mainly on part of the large collection I have received from Mr. F. C. Willcocks, made in Egypt since 1907 ; specimens from Mr. Gerald Bedford, collected in the Transvaal and the Cape ;and a small collection of spirit specimens without any colour notes sent to the ImperialBureau of Entomology by Mr. T. J. Anderson from Nairobi, British East Africa.The collection made by Mr. Willcocks in recent years contains some hundreds of specimens, many in alcohol and many beautifully mounted, with field notes giving the living colours of most of the species. This very valuable collection seems to be almost complete for Egypt, for in a recent letter Mr. Willcocks tells me he is unable to find any new species. It contains a number of new insects and some well-known European and American species, including the corn pest, Aphis maidis, Fitch; the green pea louse, Macrosiphum pisi, Kalt.; Macrosiphum sonchi, L. ; the so-called yellow clover aphis of America, Callipterus trifolii, Monell, which is here shown to be the Aphis (Callipterus) ononidis of Kaltenbach; the water-plant aphid of Europe and America, Siphocoryne (Aphis) nymphaeae, L.; and the European willow aphid, Lachnus viminalis, Boyer. The bean-root aphid, Tychea phaseoli, Pass., was also sent and the alate female is now described, as well as the first alate female of Rhizobius, apparently referable to Buckton's Rhizobius graminis. A large number of specimens in Mr. Willcocks' collection yet remain to be examined, including species from Zizyphus, Duranta, artichokes and sycamore figs; also others from Nairobi and some tubes of specimens sent by Dr. Aders from Zanzibar to the Imperial Bureau.

Up to the present time no single species of the cosmopolitan genus Thrips has been recorded from the mainland of India. In fact our knowledge of the Thysanoptera of this country is extremely fragmentary. Schmutz in 1913 (Sitzb. der K. Akad. Wissensch. in Wien, Math-nat. kl. cxxii, p. 1–99) described forty-four species from Ceylon, and since that time about a dozen more have been added, and no doubt many of these will be found to occur on the mainland. At present, however, only seven species are recorded. These are: Physothrips lefroyi, Bagnall, Physothrips usitatus, Bagnall, Helioihrips indicus, Bagnall, Panchaetothrips indicus, Bagnall, Hindsiana apicalis, Bagnall, Phoxothrips breviceps, Bagnall, and Leeuwenia indicus, Bagnall. It is probably no exaggeration to say that there are at least two thousand species in that country still awaiting discovery.

The theories at present widely accepted regarding the connection between the SIMOLIIDAE and pellagra have brought this family of blood-sucking flies very much to the front in recent years, and have rendered it highly desirable that accurate information should be available concerning the different species, their distribution and habits. It is in the hope that the facts brought forward may be of use at some future time, and that the way may be cleared for further research, that the present investigation has been undertaken. The writer has examined over 1,000 pinned specimens, including the material in the British Museum, the Cambridge Museum and the Edinburgh Museum, together with a large number of additional specimens kindly lent by various private correspondents. The result of this examination will, it is believed, go some way towards an elucidation of the European species of this family.

Until 13th March I remained in the Proclaimed Area, then, as the weather condition were very bad, and as moreover the grass had so overgrown all the paths, which are little used, that my movements were very much hampered, I removed to Fort Johnston at the southern extremity of the Lake, and have since been working in its neighbourhood.

♀ Head: sides clothed with flat white scales, interrupted by a rather narrow horizontal band of flat black ones; two large patches of flat black scales on the top, separated by a rather narrow band of narrow white scales extending from the nape on to the front; a narrow line of narrow white scales bordering the upper part of the eyes. Eyes well separated. Proboscis and palpi black. First antennal joint blackish, greypruinose. Thorax: integument blackish, except for the reddish scutellum and a small pale spot on each side at the base of the postnotum. Prothoracic lobes and the space behind them clothed with flat white scales. Scutum clothed with narrow yellowish-white and blackish scales, the former arranged in definite narrow lines as follows: a median line extending from the front margin to a little in front of the scutellum, where it forks into two; a line on each side of this extending the whole length of the scutum, enlarged a little in front of the middle and sending a branch obliquely forwards from this point to the lateral angle of the thorax; and another line forming a border to the scutum. Scutellum with narrow scales, mostly yellowishwhite, but some black ones on each side of the middle lobe. Pleurae with several patches of flat white scales. Abdomen black, above with conspicuous pure white basal lateral patches and traces of yellowish-white basal bands on all the segments; venter black, all the segments with pure white basal bands. Eighth segment welldeveloped, only partly retractile; cerci short, rather broad and rounded at the tip.

Adult female reddish or brownish ochreous with a dark marginal zone, to uniform dark castaneous. Broadly oval to sub circular; flat; margin evenly rounded, without trace of stigmatic clefts (fig. 1, a). Anal cleft completely fused, its position marked by a slight ridge and thickening of the derm. Anal operculum approximately central, the distance from posterior margin of body to anterior extremity of operculum being equivalent to nine-twentieths of the total length. Valves of operculum (fig. 1, d) elongate; basal edge nearly twice as long as outer edge; inner edge more than twice the length of the outer edge. Antenna (fig. 1, c) 7-jointed: formula, 3,7, (2, 4), 5, 6, or (3, 4, 7), 2, 5, 6. In some examples there are traces of a division in the third joint.

For some time an Anopheline found in the eastern tropics has been accumulatingnames in a most unfortunate way, and as the mosquito has proven to be a very activecarrier of malaria, and I myself am partly to blame for this multiplication of names, it seems fit that I should try to untangle the synonymy.

Hitherto no flies of the family PSychodidae have been recorded from Australia. However, during the year 1913 three specimens of a single species were taken in Townsville, one of which was subsequently submitted to Mr. E. E. Austen, who informed the author that it belonged to the genus Pericoma and was probably a new species. As I have been unable to determine it as one of Brunetti's Oriental species, I now describe it as new.

Among some weevils forwarded for identification by Mr. T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, Imperial Entomologist, Pusa, Bengal, certain species were indicated as causing damage of economic importance; of these the following six species proved to be undescribed.

The collection contained no new species; but, as little is known of the COCCIDAE inhabiting the Fiji Islands, it will be useful to place the names on record.

It was long ago recognised by students of the biology of mosquitos that differences in certain larval characters could be employed for the separation of the CULICIDAE into groups and even for the recognition of individual species. Present-day know-ledge of this subject in relation to the Anopheline group is largely based on the work of Grassi in Italy and James and Christophers in India.

This insect has been known in Grenada since 1898, and has been considered a pest of cacao by planters and others. At the present time thrips probably occurs in all parts of Grenada; at least, I found it or saw the results of its presence in all parts of the island which I visited, and I think I might say in every field. It was, however, only in certain fields, and often in small areas in those fields, that planters considered that damage had resulted. The remarkable thing about the occurrence of thrips is that it appears year after year on the same areas, even on the same trees, though sometimes spreading a little; but a thrips area one year is liable, or certain, to be athrips area every year.

Ovisac white, strongly convex, broadly oval, narrower behind; very closely felted and tough. Length, 3·0 to 3·50 mm. Breadth, 2·25 to 2·50. mm.

The Thrips described below was submitted to me by Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall, Director of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology, to whom it had been sent by Mr. T. J. Anderson, the Government Entomologist in British East Africa.

The collection contains no novelties or species of special interest. The enumeration of them will, however, contribute to a knowledge of the local fauna of the country, of the distribution of the several species, and of the plants that they affect.