The following remarks are based chiefly on the revision of the East Indian species of the subgenus Mansonioides just published by J. Bonne-Wepster (Geneesk. Tijd. Ned.-Ind., Deel 70, pp. 940–966, Sept. 1930). A re-examination of the British Museum collection in the light of Mrs. Bonne's work has shown that certain points need elaboration or correction.

It is generally admitted that the ability to determine the species of Anopheles by an examination of their larvae would place a valuable weapon in the hands of the practical sanitarian in tropical countries. In the investigation of an area for the determination of the Anopheles present, it frequently happens that, on account of their habit of concealment by day, adult mosquitos are difficult to find, whereas their breeding places may be located readily. If the larvae are transported to a distance they commonly do not develop further, and so, failing the specific identification of the larvae themselves, valuable information is lost. It is therefore very desirable to know whether, and to what extent, any of the characteristics of such larvae may safely be employed in determining their species.

There has been much confusion in the taxonomy of the species of Dysdercus in the Caribbean area, and this contribution is an attempt to straighten out the nomenclature and synonymy for future workers on these important pests, until such time as a complete revision of the Neotropical Dysdercus can be attempted.

The new species, described below, have been received from Mr. R. Dupont, Superintendent of Botanic Stations in the Seychelles.

Aspidiotus (Chrysomphalus) ansei, sp. nov. (fig. 1).

Female puparium irregularly circular or broadly ovate ; flattish or moderately convex. Very pale brownish ochreous, semitransparent ; pellicles darker, central. Diameter averaging 1·45 mm.

Male puparium smaller and more distinctly ovate ; pellicle nearer one extremity. Length 1 mm.

Adult female broadly rounded in front, narrowed and bluntly pointed behind. Margins of abdominal segments moderately produced. Pygidium (fig. 1) with six well developed prominent rounded lobes, the median pair indented on each side, the two lateral lobes more conspicuously indented on the outer side. Squames. long and deeply fimbriate : two in each of the median and first lateral spaces, three in the second lateral space, and three beyond the outer lateral lobe, followed immediately by a stout marginal prominence, beyond which the margin is slightly cristate for a short distance. Spines few, small and inconspicuous. Paraphyses, four on each side, elongate, conspicuous. Anal orifice near the extremity. Circumgenital glands in four groups: upper laterals with 3 to 4 pores, lower laterals with 2 to 3. Oval dorsal pores in two series on each side. Numerous long slender ducts communicating with the dorsal and marginal pores. Length, 1 mm.

A collection of Indian Tachinid flies was received some time ago through the kindness of Dr. A. D. Imms. An examination has shown that most of the specimens are new, and these are described forthwith. In the use of genera a conservative course has been adopted, and the new species have been placed for the time being at least in genera already in use.

The type specimens have been deposited for the present in the National Collection of Insects maintained by the Entomological Branch of the Department of Agriculture at Ottawa.

In a recent number of this Bulletin, Lloyd and Johnson (1) attempted to describe and illustrate all the known types of flagellate infections encountered in Glossina. Since this account was written a flagellate, which it is believed has not previously been described, has been encountered in three individuals of G. morsitans at Sherifuri, Northern Nigeria. In the first two cases the worker at the microscope was new to the infections of tsetse and did not notice anything peculiar about the parasite in the proboscides that were being examined. The appearance of the parasites in the stained film caused one slide to be retained with a note, but it was at that time regarded as an aberrant T. vivax infection. In the second instance T. vivax was present, and the unusual forms accompanying it were remarked upon, but unfortunately the slide was not retained. In the third instance it was noticed in the fresh preparation that none of the parasites were fixed to the labrum, as are the vast majority of those in T. vivax infections, nor were they clumped as in this species and in T. congolense. Each individual was free-swimming and many were escaping from the labial cavity, the power of translatory movement being great. The hypo-pharynx was not invaded. The remainder of the fly was then examined and the mid gut was found to be heavily infected, while the salivary glands were negative.

Cacoecia histrionana Froel. a European relative of the North American spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana Clem., was found in several localities on the north-eastern frontier of Bavaria in 1949, but was not abundant anywhere.

Details are given of its biology based upon observations made during large-scale collecting in the summer of 1949, which yielded approximately 2,100 larvae of C. histrionana.

An important characteristic of the species is the great variation in the stages of larval development present at any given time, which is apparently caused chiefly by the absence of diapause as a synchronising factor.

Approximately 4°C. was found to be the lower temperature limit for movement and feeding of larvae ready for overwintering.

Three samples of larvae taken in favourable localities showed that 0-15 to 0-70 larvae were present per metre length of spruce forest edge from ground level to a height of 2 metres. An estimate of the minimum population is made for a limited and well searched area.

From 1803 C. histrionana larvae collected in the field, 15 species of primary parasites and four of hyperparasites were bred. Combining the result of three samples taken at different times the minimum reduction of the population after hibernation is calculated to be 66-8 per cent., the parasitism of pupae at least 13-5 per cent. Egg parasitism occurred.

Nine of the 20 parasites, known hitherto from C. histrionana, have been bred from other hosts of the same animal community.

The most important larval parasite was Meteorus ruficeps Nees which completes 2-3 generations in one generation of C. histrionana. A proportion of the population also overwinters in other Microlepidoptera, concentrating on C. histrionana in summer. Details of its life-history are given.

Occasionally some larvae were found that had probably died from disease but disease, as a mortality factor, was of little consequence in the observation area in 1949.

Mortality caused by parasites proved to be very important in affecting changes in the population density. This result does not agree with Eidmann's theory that the scarcity of C. histrionana is due to climatic control.

Attempts were made to find alternative, less persistent, toxicants to aldrin for use in baits against Anoplolepis longipes (Jerd.) in the Seychelles. More than twenty toxicants were tested (some in more than one formulation) for effectiveness as poisons and for repellency to ants at the concentrations used in baits. None was as effective as aldrin, but certain formulations of pirimiphos-ethyl, pirimiphos-methyl and mecarbam were promising because they gave good kill of ants in the laboratory and were of relatively low repellency and therefore acceptable in bait formulations.

The two weevils associated with the living stems of the banana plant in Uganda are Cosmopolites sordidus (Germ.) and Temnoschoita nigroplagiata (Qued.); the damage caused by the former has been known for many years but the latter, which usually breeds in rotting stems, has only recently been shown to attack living ones. T. nigroplagiata occurs in every banana-growing area in the territory and is particularly abundant in some parts of western Uganda where C. sordidus, which is otherwise widespread, is rare or absent. Other species of Temnoschoita associated with the banana plant that occur in Uganda but that are rare, are T. basipennis Duv., bred from larvae in rotting pseudostems, and T. erudita, Duv., known only from the adult.

The full-grown larva of T. nigroplagiata is described in detail and characters are given for separating the larva and pupa of this species from those of C. sordidus.

Contarinia coffeae sp.n. is described from specimens reared from Coffea arabica in Uganda, and brief notes are given on symptoms, biology, crop loss and distribution. The larvae develop inside young coffee berries. Blister-like external swellings appear on infested berries and they later rot. The pest is known only from arabica coffee in parts of Western Uganda but may be spreading and could appear in other East and Central African countries.

Mating competitiveness and sexual or total competitiveness of males of the house fly, Musca domestica Linnaeus, treated with 1.0% hexamethyl phosphoramide (hempa) were measured quantitatively from direct observations and ratio test methods, respectively. From direct observations, treated males of Cooper and Boxted strains of M. domestica were found to obtain more first matings than untreated males (P <0.01 and P <0.05, respectively) when competing for untreated females, whilst by using the ratio test method under laboratory conditions, total competitiveness values (C) of treated males of the two strains were estimated to be 0.72–0.89 and 0.75–0.97, respectively, at three different ratios from 1:1:1 to 3:1:1.

♂. Pale greyish stramineous. Antennae clothed with short hairs, and with indefinite brownish rings. Face smooth. Fastigium of vertex cylindrical, sulcate above, with the apex rounded, and slightly inflated, viewed in profile almost truncate. Pronotum callosely rugulose; its discovery feebly saddle-shaped, with the median carina scarcely perceptible near the hind margin, which is roundly truncate; the two transverse sulci deep, the anterior one feebly bisinuate, the posterior one broadly arched; anterior margin rounded; lateral lobes sloping, somewhat longer than broad, with the anterior angle obtuse, the posterior one very obtuse and rounded, and the hind margin strongly sinuate, with a deep humeral sinus. Elytra nearly twice as long as the abdomen, with the veinlets whitish green. Prosternum armed with two not long, pointed, somewhat divergent spines. Mesosternal lobes small, rounded; metasternal lobes forming together an equilateral triangle with the angles broadly rounded. Front and middle femora armed with 0–3 small black spinules on the inner lower margin (hind legs missing in the type). Cerci (fig. 1, C) round, feebly incurved, with the apex attenuate, distinctly incurved, pointed. Subgenital plate (fig. 1, A, B) very long and narrow, slightly recurved; the lower surface almost flat, with an incomplete median ridge and two more distinct sublateral ridges running throughout the plate to the bases of the styli; the latter short, cylindrical; hind margin of the plate acutely and deeply excised between the styli.

When engaged on some entomological research in the extreme north of New Zealand, Mr. J. G. Myers, of the Biological Laboratory, Wellington, was attacked by a large number of small biting flies, specimens of which he was kind enough to send me for study. I am much obliged to him for having thus given me the opportunity of making known a new biting species of Ceratopogoninae, and I have much pleasure in dedicating it to him.

Incubation of eggs of the African migratory locust, Locusta migratoria migratorioides (Reiche & Fairmaire), was examined in the Orange Free State (OFS) highveld of South Africa where the locust is a recurring pest of cereal crops. A minimum incubation time of 16±SE 0.97 d was recorded in summer and this progressively increased through autumn as temperatures declined. Eggs laid in autumn overwintered for 140±2.63 d until spring, when rising temperatures initiated hatching. Controlled laboratory studies established that the threshold for egg development was in the region of 15.6°C and that eggs required 5268 degree-hours to complete their development. Analysis of hourly soil temperature records, measured at egg pod depth in the field, showed that temperatures first dropped below this critical temperature threshold during mid-April, after which eggs became quiescent and overwintered until spring. There was no evidence of diapause in the field and overwintering eggs exhibited a wide range of embryonic development. Quiescence during winter on the OFS highveld was therefore a simple temperature-induced response. This is the first record of prolonged overwintering in the egg stage of the migratory locust in Africa.