A total of 56 species of Scolytidae and four species of Platypodidae, 25 of which are endemic, is recorded from Samoa (American and Western Samoa). The nomenclature of earlier species records is brought up to date and the following changes are made: Xyleborus torquatus Eichhoff=X. silvestris Beeson syn. n.; X. wilderi Beeson=X. upoluensis Schedl syn. n.; Eccoptopterus eccoptopterus (Schedl) comb. n. (from Xyleborus). Brief notes are given of the distribution, biology and host trees of each species, with special reference to 41 species found in a survey of the island of Upolu (Western Samoa). Species causing damage were Crossotarsus externedentatus (Fairmaire) found attacking living Eucalyptus trees, and Hypothenemus birmanus (Eichhoff), involved in the death of some mango transplants. Eighteen species of potential economic importance in relation to Samoan crop and timber trees are divided into four groups: potential pests of seedlings and transplants; of established living trees as twig borers; of living trees as primary timber borers; of felled logs and unseasoned sawn timber.

One gynandromorph and six intersexes of Austrosimulium bancrofti (Tayl.) are described from specimens caught in Queensland. All of the intersexes, as well as some normal flies, were infected with mermithid larvae. The infected flies rest preferentially on trees near the river's edge which would facilitate deposition of mermithids in the river. Except for a few with mature eggs, infected females had little internal abdominal structure, and most lacked ovaries.

The direction of mosquito flight near the ground, in relation to wind direction, was investigated at Keneba in The Gambia, West Africa. Directional flight traps facing eight directions sampled mosquitoes flying between ground level and 1·4 m, and unbaited and baited catches with a calf at the centre of the trap circle were performed. Data on non-host-oriented flight were obtained for unfed female Anopheles melas (Theo.), Culex thalassius Theo. and C. tritaeniorhynchus Giles from the unbaited catches, and from all catches of unfed females of the C. deceits group, and gravid and male mosquitoes, which did not respond to the calf. The baited catches included large numbers of A. melas, C. thalassius and C. tritaeniorhynchus, and fewer Anopheles squamosus Theo. and A. ziemanni Grünb. In both unbaited and baited situations, flight appeared to be in a predominantly upwind direction, although mere was some indication, in the presence of a calf, of convergence into the host stream.

The preparation and use of a simple, durable silicone membrane for feeding females of Glossina morsitans Westw. are described. Mean fecundity and mean pupal weight were nearly as good on the silicone membrane as on agar/Parafilm or rabbit ears, and survival of females after 108 days was 46·7%, as against 4·4% and 24·7%, respectively.

A key is given to the larval instars, of which there may be nine or more, of Inopus rubriceps (Macq.) and I. flavus (James); the key is based on setal characters and development of the cranial lobes. Characters allowing recognition and sexing of the pupae are also described.

In Queensland, adults of the soldier flies Inopus rubriceps (Macq.) and I. flavus (James) emerge between March and June, usually on still warm days. The females mate and oviposit on the day of emergence, the eggs being deposited close to the soil surface under small clods or in cracks. Incubation takes 6–13 days, depending on temperature. Observations on larvae reared on maize seedlings showed that the wide size range in field populations of larvae at all times of the year was due to the differing rates of development of larvae of one generation, to overlapping generations and to a difference in size between the sexes. One-third of the larvae matured to adults at the end of one year, but only a few of the remainder survived to emerge as adults after two years, one-year larvae having 8–9 instars, and two-year larvae having 10–12. Pupation occurred within the last larval skin, and the pupal period lasted three weeks.

Numerous habitats were sampled for larvae of sheep headfly, Hydrotaea irritans (Fall.), in infested areas of Northumberland during the winters 1973–74 and 1974–75. Most of the larvae found came from near the surface of soil beneath pasture and long grass. The mean larval density in these sites was 1·93/m2; the greatest density in a single site was 3·87/m2 which compares well with unpublished estimates of adult fly density. Only two larvae were recovered from cow dung. One larva was found in bracken litter, and none in other types of litter, or in horse dung, peat, moss or rotten wood. Larvae were reared to the mid-third instar from eggs laid in the laboratory. Field-collected larvae fed readily on Musca and Calliphora larvae, and did not appear to diapause in December; their identity was confirmed by rearing them to the adult stage. The egg, second- and third-instar larvae, and puparium are described and figured. Descriptions are given of changes in the mouthparts during growth of the third-instar larva, and of the features by which field-collected larvae can be identified.

The biology and population fluctuations of the non-biting Muscid Hydrotaea irritans (Fall.) were studied in two contrasting areas of Surrey using a standardised catching technique at selected sites, by analysing catches and by dissecting the collected flies. Following the first appearance of adults in early June, catches reached a maximum in late July, the males having fallen to a small proportion by early July. During August catches gradually fell, remaining at a relatively low level for the rest of the summer. The complete life-cycle, starting with eggs from caged fly colonies, took 295 days under sheltered outdoor conditions. The fly is univoltine, with three larval instars; larvae leave the egg in the second instar which is a brief, saprophagous stage, while the third, principal stage is predatory on other insect larvae. Overwintering normally occurs as a late-stage larva. Flies collected from sheep-grazing areas in Northumberland were shown, using serological methods, to have fed predominantly on cattle blood protein.

The male of the predominant cave-dwelling Phlebotomine in Belize (formerly British Honduras) is described under the informal name of Lutzomyia beltrani (Belize form). Differences between this fly, L. beltrani (Vargas & Díaz Nájera) and L. steatopyga (Fairchild & Hertig) are discussed. The females of L. beltrani, L. steatopyga and L. beltrani (Belize form) are indistinguishable.

Between 1963 and 1969, approximately 15 000 Phlebotomine sandflies were collected in five limestone caves in Belize, Central America. Thirteen species of sandflies were identified, two of the genus Brumptomyia França & Parrot and 11 of the genus Lutzomyia França. L. beltrani (Vargas & Díaz Nájera) was the predominant species in all the caves; it is wholly adapted for life in caves and data on blood-meals and ovarian development allow a detailed discussion of its probable life-history (four generations per year) in relation to its supposed hosts, bats. Some specimens of L. deleoni (Fairchild & Hertig) were collected in all caves and it was the second most abundant species in all but one cave; this species, whose larval stages develop in the caves, is evolving from life in caves and is becoming adapted to life in forest. L. trinidadensis (Newst.) was abundant in one cave but rare in the others; this species probably enters caves in search of hosts for blood-meals. The eight other species of Lutzomyia and the two species of Brumptomyia were collected in small numbers and at irregular intervals; these species use caves only as temporary shelters.

Nearly 2000 Phlebotomine sandflies collected in caves in Belize were examined for flagellate infections in the gut. Infections were found in 4% of Lutzomyia trinidadensis (Newst.) and in 42% of L. beltrani (Belize form). The two species of sandflies were infected with different species of parasites. The sources of infections in L. trinidadensis were not established, but females probably became infected when taking blood-meals on a vertebrate. One specimen of L. trinidadensis infected with flagellates was also infected with filaria worms. Circumstantial evidence suggests that L. beltrani is the insect host of Trypanosoma leonidasdeanei, a parasite in the blood of insectivorous bats. An account is given of the physiological condition of infected and uninfected L. beltrani, of the distribution of flagellates in the gut and of differences in the incidence of infections. The presence of the parasites in the gut disturbs some physiological processes in the fly and it is suggested that the presumed Chiroptera/T. leonidasdeanei/L. beltrani association is a recent evolutionary development. A model of population structure for a community of New World Phlebotominae, derived from observations on L. beltrani, is presented.

Fresh defibrinated bovine blood was superior to either haemolysed or freeze-dried defibrinated bovine blood when fed in vitro to female Glossina morsitans morsitans Westw. The presence of adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP) or other additives did not improve reproductive performance. The flies were able to compensate for considerable dilution of the blood with both serum and saline. Both parental and F1 female size affected the weight of the F2 puparia produced. The feeding of females on rabbits' ears on one day and in vitro on five days per week prevented any deterioration in performance over successive generations compared with a purely in vitro regime. A colony was established using this technique and results over a 13-month period were compared with those from a colony fed without rabbit supplement and another fed on rabbits only. The reproductive performance of females in the all-membrane-fed colony deteriorated from generation to generation, while those in the rabbit supplement colony performed similarly to those of the rabbit-fed colony except that survival was better but fecundity was poorer and the puparia produced were smaller.

The Indian species of Trichomma Wesmael (Anomaloninae) are revised. A new species parasitising Dioryctria abietella (Denis & Schiffermtüller) (Pyralidae) and Eucosma pylonitis Meyrick (Tortricidae) is described as T. dioryctri, and two known species, T. nigricans Cameron and T. decorum (Cameron), are redescribed and briefly compared with other species in the genus. Short notes on the host ranges of the species are included. The cephalic capsules of the final-instar larvae of two species are described.

The effects on the emerging adult of topical application of 14C-dieldrin to third-instar larvae of Musca domestica L., and the distribution of the insecticide in the fly, the puparial case, and the holding medium, were examined. The dose ranged from 0·04 to ca 13 μg/larva. All flies emerging after treatments of 1 μg and above showed symptoms of poisoning some time after emergence. With the larger doses an increasing number of flies, although they escaped the puparium, were unable to reach the surface of the holding medium. With the two top doses some were unable to escape fully from the puparial case. These flies contained amounts of dieldrin well in excess of the LD99 dose. However, even the highest dose allowed some flies to emerge normally. None of the treatments affected metamorphosis and all flies appeared morphologically normal. The data provided evidence that the transfer of dieldrin to the adult via the pupal stage accounts for the effects in the newly emerged fly.

Aphytis melinus DeBach was introduced to South Australia, reared in the laboratory, and then released against Aonidiella aurantii (Mask.) on citrus. In tests in nine citrus orchards, 100 adults of Aphytis melinus ensured colonisation during summer and early autumn, 1000 during late autumn, but even that number was insufficient during winter. Colonisation was equally successful whether Aonidiella aurantii was very abundant or very rare. The most efficient method for colonisation was therefore to release 100 adult parasites during summer and early autumn into small populations of A. aurantii. The parasite had dispersed at least three trees from each summer release site after five months, but much less following autumn releases. Ten months after summer release into nine trees of a total of 3330 adults, Aphytis melinus was recovered from 286 out of 354 (80%) trees in one orchard. In a further experiment, numbers of Aonidiella aurantii were reduced from 300–1000 per 150 leaves on five trees to less than 10 per 150 leaves 18 months after the release of Aphytis melinus, whereas on a control tree they increased from 550 to 1450 per 150 leaves over nine of those months.

In Trichospilus (pupal parasites of Lepidoptera) the species are keyed out, T. ferrierei sp.n. is described from Uganda, T. vorax sp.n. from Ivory Coast (also Angola and the Kenya-Ugandan border) and T. boops sp.n. from Kenya. The known data on the South Asiatic T. pupivora Ferrière and T. diatraeae Kurian & Margabandhu are reviewed. Similarly the Cotterellia species (parasites of Hispine and Lepidopterous leaf-miners) are keyed out, and C. nitifrons sp.n. from West Malaysia and C. javana sp.n. from Java are described. The other species of the genus are annotated, including the African C. lamellata (Kerrich) comb.n. (from Chrysocharis) and C. podagrica Waterston, the Madagascan and East African C. pilosa (Risbec) comb.n. (from Eurycranium, Pteromalidae), the Ceylonese C. lankensis Kerrich and the mainly New Guinean C. insularis Kerrich.

A new approach to the study of multiple insemination in mosquitoes or other organisms involving the use of electrophoretic enzyme variants is described. Data obtained on Culex pipiens L. with this technique confirm the basic monogamy of the species and suggest that multiple insemination may occur almost exclusively within 48 h after the first mating. Two independent mechanisms are probably acting in preventing multiple insemination. The first, probably the formation of a mucoid mating plug during the first copulation, allows the fertilisation of a further 10% of eggs by the second male in double inseminations; the second, the accessory gland pheromone (matrone), after an initial latent period, totally prevents a second insemination for the duration of the mosquito's life.

The north-western European species of the merula, lacteus, vipio, ultor, ater, butalidis, popularis, carbonarius and validus-groups of Apanteles are revised. Fifty species are dealt with, of which ten are described as new. Two species are synonymised, crantor Nixon with contortus Tobias, and sarcitorius Telenga with carpatus (Say). For taxonomic reasons, the geographical region under consideration has been widened to include three species from Crete (urgo Nixon, contortus Tobias, myeloenta Wilkinson) and two from Kazakhstan (lectus Tobias, electilis Tobias).