Bryocoropsis cotterelli, sp. n.

Colour.—Blackish-brown, with the head, anterior lateral margins of pronotum, sides of the scutellum, sternum, venter, and legs, ferruginous brown. Hemielytra blackish-brown, with a large irregular area at apex of corium, pale yellowish-hyaline, and a small round spot below the middle of the embolium, another at base of corium, one on disc of corium, and some obscure markings on clavus, ochreous; membrane semi-opaque, blackish-grey with a dirty whitish bilobed spot below apex of cuneus between basal cell and the costal margin. Antennae black, the basal segment tinted with ferruginous brown. Rostrum brown with apex brownish-black. Hind tibiae tinted with black along outer side.

Pseudaonidia tesserata, de Charm.

Aspidiotus (Diaspidiotus) tesseratus, de Charm., Pr. Soc. Amic. Scien., 1899, p. 23.

Pseudaonidia tesserata, Brain, Bull. Ent. Res., ix, 1919, p. 206.

On Monotes glaber (Dipterocarpaceae), Trelawney, 29.iii.1928. The specimens were found on the larger branches (1½ inches in diameter) underneath the superficial tissues of the bark.

In the autumn of 1928 Dr. J. Schwetz forwarded to the writer, from Stanleyville, a small collection of blood-sucking Diptera, the majority of which had been obtained by him in the region of the Lower Lomami River. The material sent included specimens of four species of Glossina, the determination of three of which (G. palpalis, Rob.-Desv., G. fusca, Walk., and G. tabaniformis, Westw.) presented no difficulty. The fourth species, however, which had evidently attracted the special attention of the sender, since specimens of it were received labelled “ ? G. pallicera,” proves to be new and is accordingly described below. Dr. Schwetz, who is already well known by reason of entomological investigations in Belgian Congo extending over a long series of years, is to be congratulated upon a discovery which brings the number of recognised species of Glossina up to twenty.

The first species to be dealt with was received from M. Prosper Bovien, of the Statens Plantepatologiske, Forsøg, Lyngby, in October 1927. It was reared from larvae and pupae found abundantly among seed of radish (Raphanus sativum) that had been in storage for months, and it was thought that the larvae were preying on the mites (Aleurobius, etc.) which attack the seed. In a later letter it was stated that some years previously the midges were observed emerging in January from seed in which there were no Aleurobius but numerous Cheyletus. The midge occurs at irregular intervals in seed from Denmark, as well as in seed from Germany.

The object of this paper is to place on record, with as much detail as possible, a scientific and official account of this year's locust invasion and also to describe methods of control which were found to be, or thought likely to prove, efficacious. Thus in future years reliable information may not be lacking with regard to these very important points. It should be added that the paucity of previous scientific records concerning locust invasions of Palestine during earlier periods has proved a not inconsiderable handicap from a number of different points of view.

1. An account is given of two organised grass fires carried out in the Lomagundi fly-belt of Southern Rhodesia in the years 1927 and 1928, as a method of controlling G. morsitans.

2. The effect of these fires on the flora and game is described, and details given of the immediate effect of these fires on both the adult fly and the puparia. The effect on the adult fly was to concentrate it along the shady watercourses and other parts of the forest where the fires were less fierce and the requisite shade was to be found.

3. On the puparia, no immediate effect was noticeable. The number of dead puparia collected increased during October and November, and this is considered to be attributable to the lethal effects of the sun, not of the fire.

4. The pupal period of the fly decreases from eighty-two days for puparia collected in June, to twenty-one days for puparia collected in November. The period of greatest activity of the fly, as indicated by emerging flies, density and collected puparia, is in September.

5. A short account is given of the trypansome infection and food of the fly. On the average 11 per cent. of the flies are infected with pathological trypansomes in the proportion of ten congolense group to seven vivax group. Only one infection of the gland was found out of 1,523 dissections. There is a tendency for the percentage of infected flies to increase during the late dry season. This rise coincides with the increased visibility of the game. Examination of the fat content failed to indicate any degree of starvation amongst the flies.

The food of the fly consists almost entirely of mammalian blood, only one case of avian blood being found.

6. A final decision has not yet been pronounced upon the efficacy of grass fires as a means of controlling G. morsitans in Southern Rhodesia.

Among several parasites received by the Imperial Bureau of Entomology from different countries, the following three parasites and hyperparasites of the pink boll-worm, Platyedra gossypiella, Saund., proved to be new and are described here as they may be of interest in the biological control of this cotton pest.

The beetle, Lema melanopa, is a serious pest of cereal crops in certain areas of Europe and is becoming increasingly common on cereals in Britain. A survey of the literature indicates that the life-history differs in various localities, and no previous account has been given of the life-history in this country.

The life-cycle in Britain is briefly as follows. The adult beetles emerge from hibernation in April, mate and commence to oviposit towards the end of May. Oviposition continues for nearly two months, and adults commence to emerge early in July and continue to do so until September. There is no indication that a second brood occurs, although the climate would permit of one.

The adults feed freely after emergence, but largely on grasses, prior to hibernating in November. In the spring they feed almost exclusively on the leaves of young cereals. The larvae feed principally on cereals. Adults tend to be gregarious and are very long-lived, numbers living over a second winter.

Two larval parasites occur in Britain and further information concerning these is being obtained. Of all larvae collected in the field 25 per cent. were found to be parasitised.

The loss of crop sustained as a result of attack by this pest amounts on the Continent, in extreme cases, to as much as 50 per cent. of the total. Control measures consist of cultural methods, spraying and dusting. Certain of these might be adapted for use in this country with reasonable hope of success.

In discussing the African Trypetidae some mention should be made of the work of the late Dr. Mario Bezzi, who has perhaps done most work on the higher Diptera of Africa and on the Trypetidae in particular. In 1924 in his papers in Vol. xv of the “ Bulletin of Entomological Research ” and in Vol. xix of the “ Annals of the South African Museum,” Bezzi left the classification of the African Trypetidae in as satisfactory a condition as any systematic group could be expected to be at any given time. Some discrepancy was apparent, however, between the classification of the African and of the European Trypetidae, the general classification of the latter apparently not having been touched since Loew's early work. The appearance, therefore, of Dr. F. Hendel's monograph on the Palaearctic Trypetidae in Lindner's “ Die Fliegen der Palaearktischen Region ” was greatly to be welcomed. At the same time, his classification does not agree with that of Bezzi ; Hendel has made numerous nomenclatorial and systematic changes, and the correlation of the two systems will not always be easy.

The theory of phases of locusts put forward as a working hypothesis by the senior author (Uvarov, 1921) has led, as might have been expected, to further researches in that direction, but the results obtained have been in some cases apparently contradictory. A summary of the work done on these phases has been published recently in a book (Uvarov, 1928), and we do not propose to repeat it here, the purpose of the present joint paper being to discuss very briefly certain aspects of the problem in the light of new observations made by Predtechensky (1928) in Russia and by the junior author in Madagascar.

“ The condor lays a couple of eggs and the ostrich a score, and yet in the same country the condor may be the more numerous of the two ; the Fulmar petrel lays but one egg, yet it is believed to be the most numerous bird in the world. One fly deposits hundreds of eggs, and another, like the hippobosca, a single one ; but this difference does not determine how many individuals of the two species can be supported in a district.”—Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species.

The following report has been drawn up mainly from collections received through the Imperial Bureau of Entomology from Messrs. C. French and G. F. Hill. I have also included some records resulting from an examination of collections made by Dr. F. R. Rodway and Mr. R. Kelly, while E. E. Green, who has always been very ready to render every assistance, very kindly turned over to me for description several species which he had under manuscript names. Figures of previously described species have been added where considered necessary ; those given by Maskell are often, it must be confessed, misleading, while those used by Froggatt in his Catalogue are illustrations mainly of the external appearance, and, though excellent in their way, are not altogether satsifactory for the critical determination of species. Leonardi in his Monograph of the genus Lepidosaphes was content, where he gave an illustration at all, with one of the pygidial fringe, but there are other characters to be found in the pygidium, and for a full appreciation and understanding of these, this area requires to be figured in entirety. The whole of the Australian Coccid fauna, so distinctive in many respects, requires to be re-examined and fresh descriptions, based on morphological characters, drawn up. Of the numerous genera erected by MacGillivray I have accepted only one in the present paper ; as he based his genera on descriptions only, I prefer to express no opinion on the standing of the others he erected until I have examined a more extensive series of species.

In the few published accounts of insects belonging to the genus Nysius attacking crops in South Africa, the specific name of the Lygaeid concerned has always been given as binotatus, Germ., known locally as the common stinkvlieg, this species having been recorded as attacking not only fruit, potatoes and sunflower seed-heads, but also as being a household pest.

In the February number (1928) of this Journal, a most interesting and valuable paper was published by Mr. F. D. Golding, Government Entomologist of Nigeria, on the bionomics of cotton-stainers (Dysdercus). In a footnote on page 319 of this paper it was suggested on my authority that three of the seven species mentioned by him as occurring in Nigeria were probably wrongly identified, since no representatives of these three species were present in the Nigerian material in the British Museum. Since then I have been able to examine Mr. Golding's collection and can state definitely that the specimens of Dysdercus nigrofasciatus, Stål, and D. migratorius, Dist., taken in Nigeria, were correctly identified. D. intermedius, Dist., however, does not, so far as is known, Occur in Nigeria. To the species mentioned by Golding as occurring in that country must be added D. antennatus, Dist., which however is probably generically distinct from typical Dysdercus species.

In the “ Furau,” or Tiger-beetle larva of Nigeria, the digestion of the prey is mainly extra-intestinal. A dark brown slightly acid fluid, which is actively proteolytic and causes blackening of the tissues, is ejected from the intestine of the larva and dissolves the tissues of the prey. The resulting fluid is swept towards the mouth by the labium and re-ingested.

The bites of the larvae had no effect upon the skin of a monkey or of man, and there is little doubt that the larvae have no relation to the inflammatory lesion of the foot of man, which also is called “ Furau ” in Northern Nigeria.

The only Dipterous parasites of tsetse-flies at present known belong to the family Bombyliidae, and to the genus Thyridanthrax, O. Sack., as enlarged by the late Professor Bezzi. Hitherto the species of this genus definitely stated in literature to be parasitic in the larval stage in Glossina pupae consisted solely of Th. (Villa) lloydi, Austen, and Th. (Anthrax) abruptus, Lw. In the following pages the number of species of which specimens have been bred from pupae of tsetse-flies is raised to seven, including three species which are described below for the first time. With one exception (Th. argentifrons, sp. n.), in which the holotype emerged from a pupa of Glossina tachinoides, Westw., while a paratype was bred from a pupa of G. morsitans, Westw., form submorsitans, Newst., these flies are not known to attack any species of Glossina other than G. morsitans. Whether it will ever prove possible to make practical use of parasites for the purpose of tsetse-fly control, is a question for the future. In this connection, however, it is perhaps of interest to note that, whereas six out of the seven species dealt with below occur either in Rhodesia, or in countries to the south-east or north-east of that territory, the seventh species (Th. argentifrons) has been met with in Northern Nigeria.

Microstigmus myersi, sp. n. (fig. 1).

♀. Nigro-aenea, nitida ; mandibulis, antennis (articulo apicali excepto), tegulis pedibusque, luteis ; alis hyalinis, iridescentibus ; venis fuscis, basi luteis. Long. 3·5 mm.

The writer some years ago described a mosquito under the name of Dixomyia elegans, the type of which remained unique until May, 1927, when a few adults, larvae and pupae were collected. The larvae and pupae were found in hoof-holes made by cattle on the edge of a swamp. The water in these holes contained a considerable amount of decaying vegetable matter and was comparatively clear. It was not examined for algae, except that both Nitella and Chara were noted as being absent. The B. D. H. Universal Indicator gave a colour change of greenish-yellow (7·0–7·5) in all samples of water tested for pH.

The following notes are written in the hope of supplementing what has been already published on the life-history of the Fig-tree Moth. In particular, the length of duration of the separate larval instars does not seem to have been given before. The observations began with the finding, on 27th May 1928, of caterpillars and eggs on fig-trees at Karradah, on the left bank of the Tigris below Baghdad. They were continued mainly in the entomological laboratory of the Agricultural Institute at Rustam, a few miles away, and were perforce discontinued after 21st June, as I had then to leave Baghdad on a tour of inspection and, shortly after my return, I fell ill.

The following methods of technique, along with many others, applicable to entomological work have been used by the writer in the course of a number of years' experience. Since a considerable proportion of the methods does not appear to be generally known, it is thought that the present article may prove of value particularly to investigators located in parts of the Empire overseas.